The Delp Details

Only in Ecuador...

2012-02-05T06:26:00.008-06:00

It's been quite an interesting weekend. We left Santo Domingo on Friday afternoon and traveled to a little town called Baeza-about a 5-6 hours in total. We stayed overnight in Baeza and met our friends Mandy (our fellow missionary and translator for the class) and Abby and got up very early because I (Kim) was going to be teaching my first class about disabilities in a small village in the jungle. We met our friend Rolando and in his family about an hour outside of Baeza and then started the 2 hourish trip to the village. About and hour or so into the trip-we ran into traffic that was very backed up. It's the rainy season here so we thought it was probably a landslide which is pretty common. We got down to the bridge and this is what we found! This road has at least 11 bridges alone getting to the village and they are not super sturdy so they don't allow big trucks. However, they said a large truck passed over it and this is what happened!
The bridge had a HUGE hole in it and we found out it was being held up underneath with very thin tree trunks.
Then we realized they were putting a tree trunk over the hole and then thin planks. Our friend Rolando that was with us said that a few people probably paid the engineers so they could pass over it. That's when we saw a truck and then a BUS pass over the broken bridge!!!!! It was incredible-don't worry, we decided not to pass over it-defintely not worth the risk. So, after a lot of travel, we headed the 3 and a half hour trek back to Quito. We will probably be doing the training in a couple of weeks-hopefully the bridge will be fixed! HA! Only in Ecuador...

To mothers-to-be and pregnant friends...

2012-01-26T11:33:00.002-06:00

I felt compelled to write a blog post to my pregnant friends or those who are trying to get pregnant. I am passionate about preconception care and women's health so in light of that, I thought I should write this.

One of the best things you can do as a woman who is pregnant or wanting to get pregnant is to prepare you body. At least 3 months before you want to get pregnant-you should take at least 400mcg of Folic Acid. This simple vitamin has been proven to prevent neural tube defects such as Spina bifida. I would recommend taking a prenatal vitamin at least 3 months before getting pregnant as well as during the duration of your pregnancy and breastfeeding if you decide to breastfeed (breastfeeding info is a whole other post).

Make sure your immunizations are up to date. If you haven't had any vaccines in a long time, you should for sure check with your Gyne or midwife about this. Especially chicken pox and rubella are very important to check into as these can be extremely dangerous to the baby. Also-the flu vaccine is a must for pregnant mothers!

It is also important for your body to be in general good health. If you are overweight, even losing 10% of your BMI is huge! THis can decrease your rates of having difficulties in pregnancy as well as in your general health. Also, make sure to stop drinking, alcohol or drugs as well as exposure to toxic chemicals and fumes. All of these have been attributed to possible birth defects, as well as mental development. This can help prevent developmental disorders.

Another important thing is to get a check up-especially with your midwife or gyne to make sure you have no infections or other problems.

If you have questions-check out the CDC or March of Dimes
Their websites are:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/preconception/default.htm
http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/getready_10steps.html

El Ano Nuevo (the New Year)

2012-01-15T15:54:00.002-06:00

On New Year’s eve, we experienced a very different celebration here in Ecuador. The traditions are quite different here, but fun. We had a great time learning and experiencing this with our friends the Burbanos. 1-2 days before New Year’s eve, we began to see paper mache dolls representing the old year. On New year’s eve, starting in the afternoon, ‘the widows’ of the old year come into the streets, stopping cars and asking for money. These ‘widows’ are typically men dressed up as women. We would like to say that this money is used for something good, but the ‘widows’ use it for alcohol. At midnight, to represent the new year coming in, people burn the doll representing the year past.

Additionally, we went down to a street in the tourist district to see large paper mache dolls that were in a contest with other businesses. People were very dressed up, similar to Halloween. It was quite the sight. It was very fun to experience this. Here are some pics to show you a little more what we saw.

The family in front of a big display of figures representing the 'old year'

Los Munecos (the dolls) of the old year

Olga and Caleb

Henry, Joel, Caleb and Simeon

Leftover turkey and trimmings???? What to do?

2011-12-25T17:33:00.002-06:00

Have you ever wondered what to do with your turkey and trimmings leftovers after Thanksgiving or Christmas? I have a great solution! I guess I shouldn't say it is mine, I stole it from my mother-in-law one year when all of us got together and we had leftovers. What else is there to do, but make a casserole?
Now, for those of you very sectional eaters out there, you may be thinking "casserole, NO WAY!" I can understand. My hubby likes his foods separated and eats them one at a time. I hear your scoffs and reservations. However, I have to say-it is JUST wonderful. Here is the way I did it today:
I didn't have a lot of leftover dressing, so I started with the turkey on the bottom-enough to cover the whole bottom of your pan. I used a 9X13 pan, but you can use whatever size you want, depending on how many leftovers there are. After the turkey, I put dressing, then corn, a think layer of gravy, then mashed potatoes,then ended with gravy. I covered it with foil and put it in the freezer for a day when I didn't want to cook! You can do this casserole to whatever taste you like-whatever layers you like-although I always end with potatoes and gravy. Depending on how many leftovers you have-you can always give it to friends or your fav single friend who would probably really enjoy it.
Hope you try it!

Quick, Inexpensive Christmas Gifts...Cocoa Jars

2011-12-18T15:27:00.003-06:00

3 cups powdered milk

1/3 cup sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

For peppermint hot cocoa, add in 1/3 cup crushed candy canes. For salted double chocolate cocoa add in ½ teaspoon sea salt and 1/3 cup chocolate morsels.

The recipe can easily be cut in half for smaller jars or doubled for larger jars.

Attach with directions: “Mix the ingredients in the jar together, then stir ¼ cup mix into 1 cup hot water or milk. Top with whipped cream.”

Then you just hope that your friends invite you over for hot cocoa.

****INFO BORROWED FROM: http://www.thenheathersaid.com/2010/11/23/handmade-christmas-kitchen-how-sweet-it-is/

Water Fights and Life Lessons

2011-12-15T06:38:00.003-06:00

A couple of days ago, Simeon and I were 'washing' dishes in the kitchen. Simeon LOVES water and loves playing in it which helps me (Kim) with getting the dishes done. Anyway, during our 'washing' Simeon started flinging water (not unusual). I said in response to this "Simeon, this isn't the place for that." (Calmly of course)...

As I heard the words come out of my mouth, I thought to myself, "This sounds like an adult talking and scolding". What better place to fling water than in our house, in our kitchen? So, instead of doing the good adult thing and continuing the wash dishes, I proceeded to fling water back at Simeon. His face was priceless! He just looked at me with big eyes and then started laughing and flinging more water. After a few minutes, we were both soaked as well as the kitchen, but it was SO much fun and I wouldn't trade the sweet sounds of laughter for anything-not even a dry kitchen.

My life lesson for today:

Don't be too busy, or too 'adult-like' to take advantage of fun kid-like opportunities that your kids will remember.

Tragedy hits Ecuador

2011-08-21T18:38:00.001-05:00

We just thought we would update you on what has been going on here in Ecuador the last couple of weeks. Here is a quick update...

On Thursday, August 4th, a tragedy struck the Ecuadorian Mission Field. A young man, by the name of Joshua Kim, of 21 years of age who was here visiting the Amazon region of Ecuador with his Presbyterian church from Orlando, FL, was swept away by a river that he and the team were swimming in to cool off from a hard day’s work. The place where they were swimming was a very popular among locals as there were people swimming there before and after they were.

Though I (Joel) wasn’t a part of the team in the Amazon, I knew I really wanted to help. So, I left early on the morning of August 5th to go over to the Amazon region of the country to be there with the team. The team ended up needing to return to Quito to fly out the next day though the pastor of the group stayed to continue the search for their lost friend. In addition to this, Joshua’s father and brother (who had been to Ecuador twice himself) and the senior pastor of the church flew in later that night. I took this group (the father, brother and both pastors) back to the Amazon region to continue the search for Joshua. Unfortunately, after five days of searching they left Ecuador without finding him. The good news is that on Friday, August 12th, Joshua’s body was found and is currently being delivered back to Quito so that he can be sent home to Florida.

Never in my life when I decided to be a missionary did I think that I would be involved in something like this. What I can attest is this: Jesus Christ is alive and at work here in Ecuador! I have never meet a group quite like the four I met from Orlando, FL. It is obvious to me that the Holy Spirit has been guiding them and has been with them every step of the way. Their response to this tragedy was inspiring! They were touched by those Ecuadorian officials, church members and missionaries that were helping them search for Joshua. His brother, Joseph, testified that when he first learned the news of what had happened that he was shocked, horrified and sad about it, but that as he has been here in Ecuador, he has only been encouraged to continue the ministry that his brother had started. He had a whole new respect for his older brother and wanted others to know about him and his life through the blessings of ministry. Joshua’s father, Mr. Kim, amazingly testified very similarly. He said that he felt that his son passed away so that he would come to see Ecuador and the ministry that both of his sons had started there. He felt that it was taking so long to find Joshua because God wanted him to see more of Ecuador and the ministry that his sons had been involved in. He thought God was encouraging him to continue on the ministry and do more ministry in Ecuador, not just their family but the whole church.

Joshua Tico Kim will be remember for his dedication to ministry in the church and his love for others. He was always giving of himself. In addition to this, he was a talented musician, singer and composer. He was soon going to be moving to Boston, MA to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music. From everything that I have learned about Joshua I wish I had had the opportunity to meet and to get to know him.

Though the story of the family and close friends is inspiring for us all, I know there will be difficult days ahead with the reality of no longer having Joshua present with them. Please pray for them that God can provide that comfort that is needed in their loss.

Simeon at the beach

2011-08-03T14:11:00.002-05:00

We had the great opportunity to go the SAME beach last week. After 4 days of not wanting to go in the water, Simeon found out he actually really liked it!

Anger

2011-06-26T10:01:00.002-05:00

I urge you to live a life worth of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. -Ephesians 4:1-3

Last Sunday this is the text our pastor preached about. It struck me in my ongoing journey to reconcile my anger that these verses appear to be the epitome of salvation, grace and right living in Christ. THIS is how I want to live my life, THIS is the example I want to set for Simeon. Not a heart of anger, not a life of impatience, but a gentle and humble spirit, patient and as the MESSAGE Biblical translation says to be

..."steadily pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love"

In researching this passage a little more, I have a learned a couple of things. To live a life "worthy of the calling you have received" is referring to the gift of grace we have been given through salvation. Paul is reminding me (us) that if God's love is so amazing, his grace abounding, then we should as believers, live accordingly. EVERY believer, not just pastors and people in full time ministry, but EVERY believer. To add to this, the explanation of LIVING THIS LIFE OF CHRIST is mirrored in the attributes of humility, gentleness, patience, tolerant love, and peacekeeping. From the NIV Application Commentary regarding verse 2:

"Attention goes first to the ego and then to loving relations. An understanding of God’s work is always an attack on the ego, not to obliterate or humiliate the self, but to bring it into relation with God and to redirect its interests. In losing life we find it."

The word translated “be completely humble” focuses on one’s thinking; it means “lowliness of mind” as opposed to haughtiness

“Gentleness” Paul uses both these words for gentleness to describe his own demeanor — a gentleness he says is characteristic of Christ.

“Patience” (makrothymia) is the exercise of a largeness of soul that can endure annoyances and difficulties over a period of time

The NIV’s “bearing with one another in love” sounds archaic and loses the force of the text. A more appropriate translation is “putting up with each other in love.” The Christian life is a life of putting up with other people, and this tolerance finds its ability and motivation in love (cf. Gal. 6:2). “Love” and “putting up with each other” are intertwined and mutually explanatory. Both are ways of valuing the other person.

“Love” (agape) enjoys the other person, but it does not exist for enjoyment. It is not a feeling or emotion, but an act of the will. It exists only in relation to specific people, and it is always costly. The focus on love is an extension of the emphasis on love in 3:17 – 19. That is, the love experienced in Christ must be extended to others. The noun agape was rarely used outside Jewish sources and the Christian writings. A few secular occurrences are now known, but clearly Christians injected the word with new content to talk about love in relation to God — first love from God, then also love for God and for other people because of God. This love does not have its origin in human motivation; it is a choice made because of the love of God.

The focus on ONE ANOTHER is significant. Living a Christ-centered life is about bearing with one another-particularly other Christians. Christianity is a God-directed, Christ-defined, other-oriented religion. Only with such direction away from self do we find ourselves.

In my search for a deeper understanding of Christ, my life, my attitude and my anger can not help but be changed. If I am truly, TRULY seeking HIS face, I will find Christ's. I pray this for you in this day and in your life as you deal with your children, spouses, co-workers, and fellow Christians.

Visit from Mom and Dad Carter

2011-05-14T09:26:00.010-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa Carter came to visit last week. We visited a lot of sites around Ecuador. Here are some of the sites around Ecuador that we visited.

Anger

2011-04-30T15:32:00.002-05:00

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

—Ephesians 4:26-27, 31-32

If you had told me a few years ago that I had a problem with anger, I probably would have laughed and said “yeah right”! But I have realized over the past couple of years that I DO indeed have a problem with anger. You might be asking yourself how this is possible. I have a loving, amazing husband, a wonderful son and I am doing what the Lord has called me to do WHERE He has called me to do it (as I understand and hear Him right now in my life). You would be right, I am truly blessed and I would be the first one to admit that. However, I think being human and our sinful nature doesn’t have anything to do with what our life looks like. God blesses us even when we don’t deserve it, that’s what GRACE is all about-but that is for a different post entirely. I am human and just like everyone else I struggle with sin on a daily basis.

For those of you who know me, you know I am a fairly open person. I wear my emotions on my sleeve (anger, happiness, joy, pain). When I started talking with Joel about how to deal with my temper especially, we talked about different things to do. One of my suggestions was to blog about it. However, it’s a different sort of blog. It is personal and that is not always easy. However, I really think this is something I am supposed to do. Not sure why and I am sure it will not be an easy thing to do at times, but I want to be vulnerable and I want to change, that is the bottom line.

SO, the 1^st blog is about WHY I am doing this. I realized like I said that I had a problem with my anger a few years ago, but for the last year, it has been very noticeable. I realized that I did not want Simeon growing up with a mom that has a bad temper and I especially didn’t want him growing up learning that behavior. There are so many other things I want to give him, but I don’t want to give him the legacy of anger.

I look at my husband and feel he is such an example to me of someone who is constantly trying to be like Christ. I realize that is what I want to be like. Now, honestly, this is not easy. It is not easy to realize that you are lacking in certain areas of your life. In fact, there are times that I have been jealous of Joel because he is patient, kind and very tender-hearted and understanding to the needs of others. I am not like that in most situations. I am very blessed to have a husband that I can learn from. Now, he would be the 1^st to say he is not perfect, but in this area, like I said, I am glad I am able to learn from him. He suggested reading through Philippians and Ephesians. I really appreciate the above verse from Ephesians. I like that it describes the ‘bad’ characteristics and then the ‘good’ characteristics and then talks about how God forgave us and that is what we should do for others. Basically we should have the attitude of Christ. I am far away from that, but I am striving for it.

I ask that if you read this blog regularly, that as you do, you would pray for me. It is not an easy endeavor to change an engrained part of who you are. Pray for change, for a likeness to Christ and an attitude of tenderness.

Simeon Dancing to Reggae

2011-04-16T16:09:00.002-05:00

Simeon is definitely Joel's son-he LOVES Reggae

Simeon's gift to us on his FIRST Birthday-His FIRST steps

2011-04-04T16:35:00.004-05:00

On his 1st Birthday, Simeon decided to take his first steps. After everyone left and it was just our fam. It was very cute and you can hear our excitement!

SIMEON TURNS 1!!!!!!

2011-04-04T16:06:00.009-05:00

Simeon celebrated his FIRST birthday on March 5th! We had people over to celebrate and had a little party. It was a lot of fun and Simeon got his very own cupcake! Hope you enjoy the pics!

Video from Christmas

2011-03-29T13:40:00.002-05:00

Simeon and Grandma Carter

Some pictures from Christmas 2010

2011-03-28T15:04:00.010-05:00

Simeon loved having an actual bath to take a bath in and rubber duckies at both grandma and grandpa's house!

The Delp nieces + an O'Dell. Sporting the Liga jersey we got her for Christmas!

Grandma Delp and Simeon

The O'Dell nieces with Simeon

Zach, Mo, Simeon, Joel and I the night we got back to the States. Zach and Mo got engaged a couple weeks after this picture! YEAH!

December 2010/January 2011

2011-03-28T14:51:00.002-05:00

The biggest thing that happened for us in December was we went back to the States for Christmas! It was great to be with both sides of the family and for Simeon to do a lot of FIRSTS! First snow, 1st Christmas, New year's etc.

However, the day after Christmas, Joel's dad had chest pain and we went to the hospital. He was admitted and eventually scheduled for a heart cath a week or so later. The cath showed major blockages, especially in his left main artery. The cath wad one on a Friday, and the following Monday he had open heart surgery. It ended up being triple bypass. Because of these circumstances and those that followed we extended our stay twice and ended up being in the States till the middle of January. Although these were not easy times, God knew what He was doing and we were so thankful that we were in the States to be with Joel's family and help how we could.

Although there were many issues following surgery, especially with medications, now, Joel's dad is doing much, MUCH better. He says he is feeling close to being back to himself again. Now we are just hoping things move along with recovery so he can have hip replacement in May.

Thank you, THANK YOU to those that prayed for Earl and Joel's family during this time. The prayers were felt and answered! Praise be to God!

TOO LONG!

2011-03-28T10:33:00.003-05:00

Many apologies for the amount of time it has been since I have posted. There are no excuses, I have just been neglected this blog to keep up with our other blog: http://blogs.covchurch.org/delp I have looked at other blogs that I once followed and realize that there have not been posts for 6 months, a year or more. Although it would be easy for me to pack it in with the blog, I feel for some people this is one connection to us that if we didn't have, they might not know what is going on with us. Now, maybe that is just an excuse, not sure, but if for no other reason, when I do post to this blog, sometimes I just need a place to put personal blogging, not just ministry blogging. I do feel like there is a difference between ministry blogging and personal blogging. I suppose that is for another blog post. Anyway, I am not going to do a poll asking if I should keep this going. Even if only a couple people read this blog, that is OK, I'm OK with that. SO, all that said, to follow are pictures, videos, etc to catch people up on life since December.

Simeon's 1st snow

2011-01-12T09:57:00.004-06:00

Here is Simeon's 1st snow at Kim's parents. He wasn't quite sure what to think...

No words needed....

2010-10-22T23:43:00.003-05:00

Updates, Updates, Updates

2010-09-29T20:39:00.011-05:00

For some of out Spanish learning and cultural development, we went to the Basilica and other parts of Quito to learn more about the place we are living and its history! We had the unique opportunity to climb the Basilica, yes climb it, to the Belfry and BEYOND! We admit, but was scary, but there was a beautiful view and it was well worth it. When you come visit us, we will take you there! Here are some other updates from the last month!

Beautiful!

At the top of the Basilica. We were smiling, but we were kind of scared! It's REALLY high!

The Sunday we were in Guayaquil, Cheryll and Moises's church had a Sunday School program. The kids were SO cute!

Moises with a HUGE Iguana. Simeon wasn't too sure about it!

Cute feet!

Simeon had his first experience in the ocean. He started out smiling, but didn't like the splashing too much!

Our apologies for the lack of posting on this blog. Between facebook and our other blog, I think this one gets neglected. Who knows if people read it, but we should be posting nonetheless. Over the last month, we have had some good experiences. We visited Guayaquil (the largest city in Ecuador). We visited our fellow (long-term) missionary and her husband (Cheryll and Moises). They were wonderful hosts to us and it was great to see a different party of the country and ministries there. One of the other short-termers, Josh went with us.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SPANISH LEARNING!

We have been a bit discouraged in this area recently and covet your prayers to continue our learning and become more proficient!

Meeting Tonight

2010-08-30T21:59:00.002-05:00

Tonight we had leadership from IPEE (the Covenant Church of Ecuador) as well as friends from Covenant World Mission headquarters in Chicago plus our missionary team (minus one from the Coast). It was a great time of prayer, dreaming and great communication for the future of the ministry in Ecuador. It is such an exciting time to be here and we feel God is really moving! We are very grateful and blessed to be a part of it!

Videos of Simeon

2010-07-31T22:19:00.003-05:00

Here is a video of Simeon's first spoon feeding with rice cereal! HE LIKES IT, HE LIKES IT!

First Trip to the AMAZON

2010-07-12T21:31:00.011-05:00

On THursday and Friday of last week, we were asked by our Spanish teacher Olgita and her husband Henry to go with them to visit Henry's mother. We of course said yes! Henry's mother lives in a town in the Amazon called El Chaco. Don't worry, we didn't stay in huts, we actually stayed in a hotel and Henry's mom made every meal from her restuarant! We were spoiled for sure. We also visited a Covenant Church in Lumbaqui, a town 2 hours from El Chaco, east and slightly north. A U.S. team will be working there in a couple weeks so our fellow missionary Chris went to 'scope' it out. Also along on the trip were Olgita's brother (our babysitter during Spanish lessons) Ricardo and a new U.S. friend from North Park Michelle. It was a great trip and Simeon as well as Joel and I got to experience many new things.

The Family Delp

This is a river that leads to the Napo river which empties into the Amazon. Henry has baptized people here so it has special meaning to him.

This is a lake close to Baeza. They have never been able to find the bottom of it! Luckily we didn't try either!

Simeon, Ricardo (our babysitter), Michelle, Caleb, Henry and Olgita.

This is an amazing waterfall close to El Chaco. We didn't even get in the water, but still got drenched just getting close. The survivors are Ricardo, Michelle, Lis, Kim, Joel and Henry, Chris is taking the picture, but he didn't venture close.

Cotopaxi Volcano-A little closer picture than from our window

Aloha...

2010-06-23T18:36:00.007-05:00

Our newest picture of Simeon!

When I began to think about this post and what I was going to say, what kept coming back to me was the word 'Aloha'. You may be thinking "wow, she really has her languages confused, I thought you were learning Spanish." Well, we are going to be learning Spanish, but it seemed to me like this word really captured where my heart is right now. It's amazing how a word can mean so much, at least my understanding of the word. I always thought Aloha meant "hello" and "goodbye" in Hawaiin. Well, when I researched it, I found out it means a lot more. So, for those Hawaiin language and culture buffs out there, my apologies for not using it in it's proper terminology, but as I said it seems to fit what I am feeling right now.

The word 'goodbye' to me is such a final word. One of those words you say to people when you know you will never see them again. I certainly don't intend on never seeing most of you again, but it is hard to know you don't know when you will see people again. It's hard to transition your mind from knowing you can see people in a few minutes or hours to now needing a day or so to see them.

That is where Aloha comes in. My mindset where I am now (most minutes of the day anyway) is filled with sadness and excitement, a feeling that things are bittersweet. We are leaving our families, friends, dogs, and all that is familiar. The tears when saying goodbye are gut-wrenching and knowing we will leave all that is familiar to a new place that is not familiar is a bit scary. The adventurous part of me however is excited about not knowing what is in store, meeting new people, learning a new culture and language and being in the place where God has called us for this time. There are scary and anxious times too. I found myself today looking at all that is familiar and realizing this time next week, I will be in brand new surroundings-in every sense of the word. As Aloha means hello and goodbye, that is where I am. I am saying goodbye to life here in the U.S. and that is difficult, but I am saying hello to new adventure and being in the place God has called us to. This is exciting and an adventure.

We covet, COVET your prayers during this time of transition. The emotional one of the family (ME!) is not having an easy time with goodbyes. Pray for us as we pray for you.

These pictures are from our last Sunday at our home church, Northwest Covenant. They had a 'sending' prayer time for us, praying for each of the 3 of us specificually. We love our church and will miss our friends there.

Aloha U.S., Aloha Ecuador.

Another picture update

2010-06-10T11:16:00.008-05:00

It has been a while since we have updated. Just thought I would do so in pictures first...
Here are some from April and May. Simeon was dedicated at our church in April. The rest are just misc. ENJOY!

The Power of a Hymn

2010-04-21T11:43:00.003-05:00

On Sunday of last week, Joel and I had the opportunity to speak at my parents church in Hartford City, IN @ Trinity UM Church. It was a wonderful time with people who I know have prayed for us over the years. During the service, we sang the song Because He Lives. This hymn has always had significance in that it shows the power of the resurrection and was written by Bill and Gloria Gaither and their son. However, on Sunday, this song had new significance. The second verse says:

How sweet to hold a newborn baby, and feel the pride

and joy He gives; but greater still the calm assurance,

this child can face uncertain days because He lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives,

all fear is gone. Because I know, I know He holds the future.

And life is worth the living just because He lives.

HOW powerful to know that no matter WHAT happens, we CAN face tomorrow. What a blessing to know that our baby can face ANYTHING because Christ is in control and because Jesus died for ALL of us! AMEN!

Catch-Up in pictures over the last 3 weeks

2010-03-27T13:31:00.011-05:00

We thought we would updated the blog to show you how Simeon has been growing over the last 3 weeks. It's amazing how quickly he changes. He has had visits from Grandma Carter, The O'Dell's and Grandma and Grandpa Delp, as well as many friends from church. We look forward to Easter where all the Grandparents will be here.
He is learning to sleep, not always when mom and dad want him to, but he is learning just the same.
Enjoy the pictures!

Simeon's Story

2010-03-07T17:10:00.007-06:00

We need to share of God's goodness to us through the birth of our son Simeon. It is a pretty neat story!

Before beginning the story, we should explain that through Kim's experience and knowledge in the healthcare industry and with what we had learned in our birthing (read "modern day Lamaze") class, we had decided we would like to have as natural of a birth as possible. We had a Nurse Midwife instead of a doctor and were planning on doing as much as possible at home during labor before heading to the hospital. Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan.

To begin with, Kim had some early signs of preeclampsia (high blood pressure, swelling, and additional protein in the urine) heading into the delivery date. This caused a little bit of anxiety for us and our midwife heading into it.

Early on Simeon's due date, March 4th, at 3 a.m., Kim's water broke, but since she was not having major contractions, we decided to wait until 7:00 a.m. to paige our midwife. When we were able to get a hold of her, she told us to come on in to the hospital and get setup. Even though Kim's contractions were not advanced, with the preclampsia symptoms, she didn't want to take any chances.

So we headed in and by 9:30 a.m., Kim was all hooked up to the equipment and had a pitocin drip started to have the labor induced. The pitocin definitely worked as hard contractions quickly started and lasted for about 8 hours. At around 5:30 p.m., after going through a little over 8 hours of grueling contractions which resulted in a lot of sickness, we were seeing very little progress. Kim was only dilated 1 cm. We could see that this was going to be a long haul and decided that Kim could not do this forever, so we opted for the epidural.

The epidural was met with a lot of relief. Much comfort and rest resulted. In addition, the pitocin drip amount was increased and so the contractions were strengthened with no pain to mama. Kim was able to sleep pretty well while she labored. Unfortunately, not much progress was made with the delivery. By 7:00 a.m. on March 5th, Kim was only dialeted 3 cms and Simeon's head had hardly descended. Our midwife consulted with the doctor on call and they both felt the birth was not going to occur vaginally. Being folks with good common sense, we followed their advice and decided to go with a C-Section.

Simeon Carter Delp was born at 8:34 a.m. on March 5th via C-Section weighing 6 lbs 9 ozs and having a 19.25 inch length. Our first family picture is at the top.

Here is the kicker: during the C-Section, the doctor noted that umbilical cord was extremely short, as well as it was wrapped around Simeon's neck. In the end, the birth could not have occurred vaginally as every time he would try to descend, the cord would wrap around his neck and not allow the descent.

We are thankful to our risen Lord Jesus Christ and his provision of a healthy and well cared for birth our son and a healthy operation for mama. Both mom and son are doing well and recovering from the ordeal. Simeon has started nursing from mom.

We decided on the name Simeon because of the biblical reference in the Old Testament to the 2nd Tribe of Israel and in Luke 2 to the priest who was aware that Jesus Christ was the messiah. In Hebrew, Simeon means "obedient" and "listening". We really like this name!!!

You can see more pictures of Simeon on our Facebook pages. Thanks for reading!

Introducing Simeon Carter Delp

2010-03-05T23:23:00.003-06:00

After a sucessful C-Section and at 8:34 a.m., Simeon Carter Delp arrived in this world as a healthy and happy 6lb 9 oz boy. Mom and baby are both doing well. We are going to be in Evanston hopsial for the next 4 days if anyone wants to visit.

Update

2010-02-24T21:23:00.002-06:00

We thought we would update you all on what is going on. Not a whole lot has changed although our emotions are quite different than a couple days ago. We know that Patah is a dog and some may not understand loving an animal, but thinking that Patah may be sick with a tumor was really emotional for us. We were so relieved to find out that Patah did NOT have a tumor, but a hernia. Praise the Lord! She has had a relaxing day in bed sleeping on a pillow most of the day. She has lots of stitches but is just as sweet as ever, until you put the funnel around her head and then she doesn't like you much...actually she just looks up at you with big puppy eyes like "what are you doing to me?" Pictures to follow that...
As for Kim...still on bedrest. On Tuesday was an appointment and additionaly labs were drawn which we completely normal! That is all good. My midwife just wants to keep me out of the hospital as long as possible and would rather not induce me. My blood pressure was still elevated and I am still having headaches. Today I got a manicure and pedicure (a birthday gift from Joel) which was so nice and relaxing. Even with my swollen hands and feet, I feel pampered and not quite as large! We covet your prayers as the days wind down.

An update

2010-02-22T17:21:00.002-06:00

I just thought I would update you all on what is going on in our lives in the last few days. I have been put on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy (only 2 more weeks or so). My blood pressure has slowly been rising over the last couple of weeks with swelling to my feet and legs as well as some protein in my urine (I know, TMI!). Anyway, these are all precursors to preeclampsia, so instead of taking any chances, my midwife is taking me off work and on bedrest (quite a jump). I can take a shower (thank the Lord Joel is saying) and I can do one outing a day, errands, lunch out, doctor's appointments etc. Otherwise I have to be in bed or on the couch. Not exactly easy for me, but I'm trying. I have an appointment with my midwife on Tuesday. They will do an ultrasound to check how big the baby is as well as the amniotic fluid. We are hoping the baby comes without having to be induced.

Additionally, our sweet white dog, Patah has to have surgery on Tuesday. She has had an abdominal 'bump' that has been getting bigger. We had it checked out today and the vet said it is either a tumor or a hernia. We are kind of worried for her. She hates vets and we just feel bad we can't be there with her until she goes under.

We hope you are all doing well. Blessing!

Read All About It!!!

2010-02-15T14:34:00.005-06:00

We have just updated our Support Letter and you can read all about it here! We are getting closer and closer to getting to Ecuador with being 65% funded with 53% of our prayer support in. We are also closer to having our first child, but that's just the quick facts.

You can read all about it here: http://blogs.covchurch.org/delp

In the mind of a soon to be mother...

2010-01-22T18:08:00.002-06:00

as you may well imagine is a very scattered place. I suppose that is how I am feeling...scattered. I know there are many, MANY things that need to be done, but most days I would rather not do them. My mind is also overwhelmed. To think of being responsible for every single need of another human being is overwhelming. To think of raising a child in the ways of Jesus and attempting to live that out every day is overwhelming. Believe me, I am not one of those people who thinks I am perfect, I know I will fail often, but it seems like failure is so much less of an option when raising children.

I admit, when you think you have 9 months to work through your emotions regarding becoming a parent, I thought I had plenty of time. I realize other things have gotten in the way and now is the time I am attempting to understand these emotions I have had the last 9 months.

The other overwhelming feelings of just not feeling ready are there often as well. We aren't really getting a nursery together, only because we will be here for such a short time before we move to Ecuador, but I am still trying to think of how to make a place.

I am not naive enough to think I am the only one who has ever felt this way as a soon to be mother. I see every day in my job people much less fortunate, much less prepared than I, but maybe that is because the standard of what I want to be as a parent is high.

I pray that I will not try to do all of this on my own. THAT is overwhelming, but I need to have the constant reminder that God is in control, I am not, and that HE needs to be my guide and my compass. I know this will not be easy, but I know God has given us this child and that is my comfort.

A musing from a mom to be...

Smells Yummy!

2009-12-17T12:28:00.002-06:00

Kim along with the help from our church's Mission Board put on a Bake Sale last weekend with proceeds going to support our future ministry. It was a huge success!!! We had a ton of donated baked goods that were delicious! And a lot of people had fun in taking part in supporting us by supporting their taste buds. It was a lot of fun and very successful for us. Thanks to everyone who was involved and helped out!!

Certified and Approved!

2009-12-09T23:40:00.002-06:00

Congratulations goes out to my wonderful wife as she has successfully passed her Family Nurse Practitioner exam!!! So, she is now a Certified and Approved Family Nurse Practitioner. This is just one more milestone on our long road to getting to the Mission Field. I am very proud of her and all of her hard work. Congratulations Kim!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2009-11-25T22:26:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!! This Thanksgiving we are thankful for so many people in our lives that show us so much love and support. Even if you all didn't do that, you would still be the wonderful people that you are. Thank you so much for being you!!!

We have updated our Covenant Church blog and you can view it here: http://blogs.covchurch.org/delp

What's in a NAME?

2009-10-22T20:42:00.001-05:00

We have decided not to find out the gender of our baby until the big day. Now, we just have to pick out some boy names and girl names. We have no idea... what do you think??? Tell us some of your favorite names for babies these days and if you already have kids, then tell us some you didn't already use please.

This is how we told Kim's parents we were pregnant!

2009-10-18T11:50:00.001-05:00

Prayer for Buyer

2009-09-18T18:43:00.003-05:00

Hey y'all!

We just wanted to throw out a specific item for prayer. Please pray that we can sell our house in Marion, IN. We have owned it for quite some time and have been trying to sell it for a while. Because the economic slow down, especially in the housing market, we have not had any luck. We just really need to have it sold before we head overseas. They say that finances are the number one cause of missionaries having to come back from being overseas. We already have school debt, so we really don't want to have this debt also. Here's a picture of the house. Thank you so much for your prayer!

SURPRISE! WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

2009-08-20T11:32:00.001-05:00

Just thought we would announce to the blog world that our first baby is on the way! YEAH! We are currently about 12 weeks (TODAY) and are due around March 4 or 5! Here is the first picture of baby Delp!

Video of the Commissioning Service

2009-07-19T16:46:00.002-05:00

Thursday Evening Annual Meeting Worship Service from Covenant Communications on Vimeo.

Here is the video from the Thursday night annual meeting service in Portland, our commissioning service.

Commissioning

2009-07-19T16:29:00.007-05:00

For a lot of years now, I have watched commissioning services of missionaries and they were always so emotional for me. I believe the reason why is because I knew that ONE DAY, I would be there being commissioned. Well, the day finally arrived in late June at the annual meeting of our denomination, The Evangelical Covenant Church. It was a very powerful time for Joel and I as well as our families. My parents as well as my aunt and uncle were able to be there and Joel's parents watched via a live video feed. We were part of the flag processional as well as being up front while they talked about what we will be doing. After that, we went out into the audience and they layed hands on us and prayed for us. It was SUCH a powerful experience, so much so that I can't even try to describe it in words. Many people from our lives at seminary came from all over the audience to lay hands on us and pray. We are SO thankful for this time and for the call God has placed on our lives.
Here are a few pictures from the time. We will post more later. Enjoy!

GRADUATION!

2009-06-16T17:27:00.005-05:00

FINALLY...
I (Kim) am finally a grad school graduate! All the hard work has paid off! I still have 300 hours of clinical work and my final presentation at the end of August, but the important thing is NO MORE HOMEWORK and NO MORE TESTS! Praise Jesus! He is good!

Pictures of Spring around the Delp house

2009-06-05T17:14:00.007-05:00

What does the RESURRECTION mean to you?

2009-04-23T15:45:00.003-05:00

Michigan VACA

2009-04-16T16:19:00.013-05:00

We recently got to take a skiing/relaxing trip to Charlevoix, MI. We had a great time and relaxed much more than we did ski. I am defintely thankful for vacations. Even though it was fairly cold, we enjoyed sleeping in, some skiing, lots of coffee and hot chocolate, good food, and just a time of relaxing and being together. It was a nice change of pace before I started my LAST school quarter!

We also had a fireplace. I love fireplaces in the winter. SO COZY!

Our hotel in Charlevoix, MI

Our jacuzzi suite room! How relaxing

After dinner at the hotel restuarant

A little coffee shop we went to. (Don't you just LOVE the name!)

The view from Charlevoix

The view out to Lake Michigan

Don't look mom! Doing what our mom's always told us not to (I should know better). Walking out on Lake Michigan ice! Don't worry. The water was only a couple inches deep. It only would have been our shoes that froze!

The view out of our hotel of the 5 inches of snow (5 MINUTES BEFORE WE LEFT!!)

Red Envelope Day

2009-03-30T11:08:00.003-05:00

I encourage you all that view this blog to participate in Red Envelope Day. This is a grass roots project giving YOU the opportunity to take a stand against abortion.
What to do:
Send a RED ENVELOPE with the writing you see on the envelope above to the White House and President Obama on March 31st:

The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington D.C. 20500

The goal is to send a message to the President and government in general and take a stand against abortion. Make sure to put a return address on the envelope so it is not pulled and put in the 'JUNK MAIL' PILE at the post office.

Learn more about Red Envelope Day at

http://www.redenvelopeday.com/index.php

A goal met...

2009-03-26T20:01:00.003-05:00

I just have to share this new thing I am thankful for. This week I hit a weight loss goal of 20 pounds through weight watchers! I am SO excited about this. I started July 1st, so for sure it has taken awhile, but it is so amazing for me to reach this goal. I really felt like if I would be treating patient's and giving them ways to be healthy, that I needed to practice what I preach. I still have some weight to lose, but wanted to share this goal with you blogger friends. Before and After pictures will be coming when we get back from vacation!
Blessings to you all!

More Thanks!

2009-03-08T14:44:00.003-05:00

So, as I mentioned in the last post, I am trying to take a suggestion from a friend to weekly and more often to give thanks for things in my life. Second to accepting Jesus in my life, is God giving me a wonderful, amazing man for my husband. To me, Joel is the example of Jesus that we are called to be. He has taught me so many things about life, dreams and love. He has taught me about unconditional love. I am SO thankful to have him as my life partner, my encourager, my leader and my best friend. I thank God for loaning him to me for this life. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us and for our lives!

Give Thanks

2009-02-23T23:20:00.003-06:00

I was talking to a very wise lady today who made the suggestion of keeping a journal of the blessings that God has given us. I thought what a better way to do that than through our blog. I am going to TRY and update it every week, not making promises, but I will do my best. So, this first Blessings post is to thank God for my friends. One friend, my best friend, Christa and her husband came tovisit last week. We had a great time. It had been years since we had seen each other, but it was like no time ever really passed. So, this post is honor of the friens God has given me. I am SO thankful to know that there are people in the world who love you unconditionally and who are daily examples of Jesus. Thank you Jesus for my friends for the blessing of them on my life.

Winter Wonderland

2009-01-14T10:56:00.004-06:00

Our front view-notice the pups in the window

Our street

I love and miss those winter Indiana skies

A Carter Christmas

2009-01-14T10:45:00.005-06:00

Todd continuing to look goofy with mom and dad lookin on

Mom and daughter! Love you!

My brother Todd acting goofy! He's good at that!

Cody (my nephew) and his girlfriend Marlie

Mom and Dad's Tree

The Delp Christmas

2009-01-14T10:36:00.005-06:00

The nieces (Brianne, Bailey, Braedyn, Sheena and Reenna) helping me make Peppermint Bark

Reenna and Brianne

Joel and Reenna playing WII boxing

Hireq enjoying some family time

O Christmas Tree

2009-01-14T10:31:00.002-06:00

Here is our Christmas tree-this year we went with white lights instead of the multicolored.

Christmas Blessings

2008-12-25T22:50:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas to you all in blogger land. Blessings to you all from the Delp house to yours!

Full Circle

2008-12-05T19:56:00.002-06:00

I loved this song the first time I heard it, but yesterday, I saw this video and couldn't believe that it showed ECUADOR!!! I know we have probably all had those moments where certain things in our lives just come together. FOr me, I felt things really came full circle in my life. The song has a quote that says I wonder what life would be like if we let Jesus live through you and me...? It was a major challenge to me when I heard that. Sometimes I feel like such a failure and such a fallen person that HOW could Jesus use me when I am such a sinner. But I realize that He CAN, and He will and He does! WHen I saw this video and it showed the children in the garbage in Ecuador it just brought to the front of my mind God's call on our lives and how we can be used through HIm if we are willing. No matter where we are, no matter how clean or dirty we are, He can use us.
I am so excited about this and about sharing it with you. I hope it touches you and challenges YOU to be God's vessel, no matter WHERE you are, no matter how fallen or how dirty.

The VACCINE Controversy...Do they REALLY cause autism?????

2008-11-05T12:28:00.004-06:00

I feel it is important to write about this because there is a lot of controversay out there surrounding it. There are a lot of parents who are not vaccinating their children because they think there is an increased risk that they will get autism from the vaccine, particularly the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine). Even Oprah last year had Jenny McCarthy on her show because her son who was diagnosed with Autism and "is now in recovery". I know that I can not relate to this because I don't have children and especially because I have not been in a situation where my child has been diagnosed with Autism, however, I do want to discuss what I have learned recently about this subject because I can empathize with families who ARE dealing with this.
First of all, I do not want to say that people shouldn't question what they are their health care providers are putting in their body. I think they SHOULD question and educate themselves. However, knowing WHERE you are getting the information is important. Checking out any book or ANY website on the internet is NOT the answer. The place I recommend researching is the CDC (Center for Disease Control) when researching anything with health. THis is what health care providers use. The website about vaccines is:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/default.htm
The issues surround autism and vaccines started with 2 research articles by Andrew Wakefield that hypothesized that the MMR vaccine caused Autism. To read more about this, go to the AMA (American Medical Assoication):
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/13697.html
There are also news articles and 20/20 specials that say these things too. Before accepting all these as fact, it is important to arm yourself with information that is factual. I believe the CDC does a good job of this because they are their own entity, they don't get money from drug reps or other businesses to make certain statements. They research these issues and report the results.

I spoke with a Pediatric Neurologist about this issue who takes care of children with autism. He said there is no substantial research that supports the idea that vaccines are directly related to MMR. He said one issue he has noted is that Autism usually peaks and is diagnosed around the age of 1, the same age that children receive their 1st MMR vaccine. This is why a lot of people make the correlation between the vaccine and Autism.
THe other problem is that there is no definitive cause that has been associated with Autism. It's not like diabetes or heart disease where we know the reasons that cause it.
The bottom line is, parents need to have the facts about these issues before making the decision NOT to vaccinate their children. Vaccines have been created to prevent people from HAVING certain diseases such as Smallpox (no longer an issue), Polio, Measles, Mumps, Rubella. Many of these diseases are deadly or life altering. Before the decision is made to NOT vaccinate your child, know your facts. Don't make a decision based on a few articles written. If everyone makes the decision NOT to vaccinate their child, it puts others at risk in the long term for HAVING the diseases mentioned above. I don't think anyone wants to see POLIO or RUBELLA as the norm for children again because they haven't been vaccinated.
AGAIN, I want to stress that I empathize with families who are dealing with Autism. It is difficult, but don't automatically jump to the conclusion that vaccines are the only culprit. We all want to know the WHY's and how things are caused, and I suppose blame has to be put somewhere. Sometimes though, we just DON'T know. Although difficult, we have to educate ourselves and know before we assume.
I'll get off my soap box now and as always would love to hear YOUR opinions...

Did you miss us??????

2008-10-13T22:18:00.003-05:00

Well, at least it hasn't been FOREVER since we have posted on our blog. We are still alive and well, busy as ever! A quick re-cap of what we have been up to...
In July we moved to a great house that is on the property of our church-Northwest Covenant in Mt. Prospect, IL. Joel is doing grounds work at the church and in turn, we are able to live in the house. It has been SUCH a huge blessing and very humbling for us. So many people in the church and community have made us feel SO welcome and they re-painted and re-finished the entire floor! It's AMAZING! I will post pictures of the inside of the house when we have everything in it's place.
In September, we had visitors from BOTH sides of the family. Joel's parents and brother and fam came and visited as our first guests. A couple of days later, Kim's parents came and in a whirlwind changed the entire outside of the house! You can see the pictures. They brought TONS of landscaping goodies including roses and lavender! I think they were a bit tuckered out since we pulled out gigantic shrubs in the front of the house! Thanks mom and dad!
Kim is still plugging away in school-just a couple quarters away from being done! She's in her pediatric rotation right now which will come in handy for Ecuador!
Joel just today started as a manager of a Verizon store in a town about 30 minutes away from us. He is excited to get to put his own touch on a store-he's got some great ideas.
Hireq and Patah are loving the new house and run around in the big basement. I think they LOVE their new surroundings and love looking out the front window and all the people and dogs walking by. They are quite the hit with the kids in the neighborhood. The parent's like them too because their kids are worn out after playing with 'em.
So, that's an update in a nutshell. Leave a comment and let us know how y'all are doing.

Before and After pictures of our house!

2008-10-13T22:05:00.008-05:00

After picture of the front of the house

Before picture of the front of the house. After picture of the side of the house

Before picture of the side of the house

After picture of the back of the house (facing the church)

Before picture of the back of the house

We went BOATIN'

2008-08-22T19:48:00.001-05:00

We were finally able to connect with some friends at church who have a boat in Lake Geneva, WI. ON Wed night we all got together and had nice snacks on the boat and enjoyed each other's company and the beautiful creation of our God. Can't tell you how much it meant to us to do this and how relaxing it was in the middle of the week to get out of the city. Thanks Carol and Irwin!

Residency Update

2008-07-13T14:56:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on my (Kim's) residency. My residency hours are 300 hours after I am done with my school work where I will work with a nurse practitioner or doctor in the area related to what I will be doing after graduation. Ideally, we would have liked to do that in Ecuador since that is where we are going to hopefully be working long term. When Joel was in Ecuador, I talked with my school about this and the answer eventually was "no" to doing it in Ecuador. Bummer! We were excited about this prospect because it means we could have gotten to Ecuador quicker. That's OK. Our plan will be for me to finish school this time next year and to do my residency hours here and then take my certification boards here. After that we will plan on leaving.
Just a quick update. Thanks for your love, support and prayers!

Our DEEPEST Apologies

2008-07-13T14:40:00.002-05:00

I have to send this apology out to those of you who read this and say I am SOOOOO sorry about the music on this blog. I had downloaded a lot of Christian songs from playlist to play when this blog is accessed. I was just listening as I was doing homework and realized there is a song on there under a Christian artists name, but it is NOT. It has vulgar words and themes. I just now realized this. Again, my sincere apologies. I hope you all do not think less of us or are not reading the blog because of this. Truly, know that I would NOT have had this on here had I realized that this song was playing. I have since removed playlist from this blog. Please accept are apologies. We did not realize until today.

New Job and New House.... Good!

2008-07-10T17:57:00.003-05:00

Well, we can officially announce that we are moving... whohoo!!!! and I (this is still Joel!) am starting two new jobs.

One is with Verizon Wireless where I will be a Store Manager In-Training. I'm very excited about this opportunity and it will be nice and close to our new home.

My second job is related to our move. I am taking over as the grounds person at our church. Basically, I'll be responsible for mowing the lawn and snowblowing during the winter and making sure everything is locked up at night. In the end, it's just making sure the place is in good working order. The awesome thing is that I don't get paid!!!! Rather, Kim and I get a free house to live in!!! Hot dog!!! Pretty cool, eh? Yeah... we are going from almost paying $1,000 per month in rent living in Chicago to moving into a 4 bedroom house in the burbs for what equates to about 2 or 3 hours worth of work on average per week. It's safe to say we are pumped!

We are moving on July 30th. We have only lived in Chicago since we have been married and we will definitely miss it. At the same time, we are also very excited about being right next door to our church family.

We'll be emailing out our new address soon, we just wanted to let you know.

Ecuador, Ecuador, Ecuador!

2008-07-10T16:46:00.014-05:00

Hey y'all!

This is Joel and I'm doing my first ever post on our blog!!! Whoo-hoo!!! Sorry for not being the communication giant that Kim is....

I had to blog becuase I just got back from... well... I guess you can probably tell by the title.

I had a fantastic trip! It was a part of our church's (Northwest Covenant) every 3 year youth mission trip to Ecuador. Kim and I went 3 years ago and that is where we started feeling like Ecuador may be where we will end up. We've visited one more time since then, but since I am between jobs, it worked out perfectly for me to head down to South America for 9 days.

We were again helping our missionary friends Karen and Carlos Feijoo with the ministries they are a part of. Our primary work was in the small town of Carabuela, which is a town just outlying Otavalo, where one of the world's best markets is located. There we were helping Fundacion Amor A La Vida, a foundation dedicated to youth of Carabuela. Here some pictures of the foundation and kids.

We were able to fix up those desks that you see above. We also did a lot of other work at the Foundation and ran a VBS and just loved on a bunch kids. It was a ton of fun!

The kids on the trip have created a blog so you can track their progress... http://www.nwccyouth2008.blogspot.com/

I guess I could get into a lot more details, but I'll just share pictures for now...

Time with Family

2008-06-25T14:40:00.004-05:00

We got to get out of the city for awhile this past week to visit with JOel's family in Goshen. It was fun to spend time with family and to see those we hadn't seen in a couple months. We had some nice weather and played lots of Tennis and Joel even got to golf!!!!! It was a nice relaxing week for us.

As a little update and prayer request...
Joel is able to make a trip to Ecuador and leaves this Saturday for 8 days. He will mainly be spending time with the youth kids from our church, but will also be able to connect with people involved in future ministry. He will be trying to set stuff up for our short term mission adventure coming up in about a year. Please pray that God will give him opportunities to set these plans up and will guide him in the area where HE wants us. We are praising Jesus for this time he can spend in Ecuador! (I am a little jealous that he is going and I have to work and be in school).

Further updates to follow...
Blessings to all.

We can clean up nice sometimes

Reenna showing her balancing skills

The cousins playing together

Joel's older sister and her family

JOel's older brother and his family

New FAV recipe

2008-06-17T16:21:00.002-05:00

Well, I was watching the cooking channel recently and I found a great new summer, HEALTHY recipe. It is
Lemon Basil Salmon Pasta
1-4 Salmon FIllets
1 lbs (less if for less people)whole wheat pasta
2 cloves of diced garlic
Zest of a lemon
Juice from 1-2 lemons
Basil (as little or as much for your tasting)
2 tsp Cajun Seasoning
2tsp Paprika
2 tsp Chili Powder
Capers-optional

Cook the pasta in a salted saucepan until done-drain

Season with fish with cajun seasoning, paprika, and chili powder-you can use more if you like it spicier. Cook the fish in a pain until flaky-or grill it.

Mince garlic, mix it with lemon juice and zest and cut up the basil. When the pasta is done and drained, mix it with the lemon juice mixture and toss it. Place the salmon on top and enjoy.

THe original recipe said to season the salmon with just salt and pepper-but I added the cajun stuff to spice it up a bit!
HOpe you enjoy!

Top 10 signs your car doesn't have AC

2008-06-11T15:11:00.002-05:00

#10 The temp outside is cooler than your car after a 1 hour drive with the window's down!
#9 You CAN actually fry an egg on the dash board
#8 When you leave a bottle of water in the car during grocery shopping and you come out and it's boiling!
#7 You accidently leave chapstick in the car and go to put it on and it's a puddle in your lap (yes this actually has happened and it's always when I am dressed up).
#6 After a nice drive during rush hour traffic, it looks like you have run a marathon from the amount of sweat pouring off of you.
#5 When you go into the gym to work out and they look at your funny because you look like you already HAVE worked out!
#4 There's always the possiblity of heat stroke on any given day
#3 During the summer no one else can ride in your car-if they do-you have to have a consent form that says "you have been warned"
#2 You have to stick your head out the windown with you dogs (and the slobber from doing it is refreshing)
and #1 Every time you get out of the car, it feels (and probably looks) like you wet your pants!

Prince Caspian

2008-05-30T10:21:00.003-05:00

We saw Prince Caspian last night and really enjoyed it. Have you all seen it? WHat did you think? I haven't read the book since I was a kid, I should have before I saw the movie. It is interesting, for those of you who saw the Lord of the Rings, there were a lot of similarities. The help from the trees, the help from the water. We were wondering, who wrote which book first, Tolkien or Lewis? We really enjoyed it and I am sad it hasn't gotten the viewing that was expected. I suppose it is hard going up against Indiana Jones. I highly recommend seeing it. I did think there were some scenes not suitable for young children. My 5 year old niece saw it and was scared in some places. So, what did y'all think? For the trailer, click on the link above.

Happy 6th Anniversary!

2008-05-11T17:25:00.005-05:00

To my hubby on our 6th anniversary. I love you more now than then. You have taught me more about life, love, marriage, and God than anyone else. I appreciate you and I love you. Thank you for loving me when it's easy and when it's hard. I love you. Happy Anniversary Joelie!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-05-02T00:24:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful mom! SHe is the greatest mom ever and really is the most amazing lady I have ever met. I hope I grow up to be just like her. Wish I could be with you mom! Love you and Happy Birthday!

SPRING is Springing in Chicago...

2008-05-01T23:51:00.006-05:00

We had some friends in town last weekend and had fun enjoying the Spring weather. We loved seeing the tulips and enjoying the lake. Enjoy the pictures.

It's OFFICIAL

2008-04-15T16:06:00.002-05:00

We have OFFICIALLY been accepted as short term MISSIONARIES, yes I said MISSIONARIES for the Evangelical Covenant Church! Our plan...
We are actually not going to be going to Ecuador for at least a year. I will finish up my last year of graduate work and then HOPEFULLY I will be able to do my residency (similar to what a doctor has to do, it's 300 hours of clinical work in the field)in Ecuador working with either a nurse practitioner or a doctor. We will plan in going in either fall of winter of '09 for a 1-year short term experience, come back to the states and finish raising our support, and then go LONG TERM! We are so pumped and I just thought I would share it. The dream is getting closer.

Updates, Updates, Updates...

2008-03-31T01:21:00.003-05:00

So, I haven't posted in a while, for that I apologize. I am sure you are waiting with bated breath to know results of the Pharmacology test...
I passed! YEAH! Thank GOD! I passed that class as well as the other 2. Hallelujah!!
IN other news...
We recently returned from Hilton Head, SC for a vacation with friends. It was so nice, but unlike me, I really didn't take any pictures so sorry not to share our fun time on the beach with you. It was a wonderful time and a well needed rest after a rough couple months of stress!
Other developments as far as the mission field for us. We had an interview on Sunday with our mission board from our church to recommend us to the Evangelical Covenant Church as missionaries. This is the second to last step in our process to become short-term missionaries. Our estimated time for this is next summer after I am done with school. I am going to hopefully plan doing my residency hours on the mission field. We will do short term work for 1 year, come back and raise the rest of our support and then go for the long haul!
This interview was a really great time of reflection for us and a realization that our call is FINALLY becoming real! It is so exciting. It is always fun to be able to re-live your testimony and call on your life and have people be excited for you! It was a great time.
So, that is a quick catch up in the life of the Delp's. I will work on getting some pictures soon.
Peace and Blessings!

THIS is it!!!!!!!!

2008-03-19T11:39:00.003-05:00

Hopefully this is the LAST post I will ever have on here about Pharmacology! For those of you following this saga, my FINAL exam will be tomorrow (Thursday) in the afternoon. PLEASE pray for clarity and CALMNESS and that I don't run out of time. I will be studying a TON today so please also pray for wise time management and clarity (I have been sicky sicky this week). I am done with my other 2 classes, just waiting on grades for them, but I think I pulled B's out in both! Anyway, please pray. I covet them and appreciate them mo than you know!

FREE SPORTS BRA CLICK HERE!

2008-03-13T23:50:00.002-05:00

For all you sporty spices out there, click on the link that says click here for your free sports bra. Pretty SWEET huh?

Plato's Closet

2008-03-13T11:26:00.002-05:00

So for those of you that are clothes people...
I guess I hope ALL of you are clothes people, but for those of you that really like to shop, I found a place, actually a few years ago called Plato's Closet. I was so excited to go there again. The first time was shopping for my honeymoon. I bought a ton of fun clothes for really cheap. You also turn in your own clothes that you don't want anymore and get money for them. So, I went to the website and was concerned when it said,
"a unique teen fashion franchise"! YIKES!!
I am not a teen anymore! I suppose the first time I went I wasn't either! Can I still go?

Iditarod 2008

2008-03-01T00:19:00.002-06:00

Since we were in Elim, Alaska, and even before I have been fascinated by the Iditarod. It is set to start today March 1st from Anchorage. Follow it on the site above. I was fascinated to know that the trail actually started because of a diptheria outbreak in 1925 in Nome (the end of the race). Mushers carried the serum over 600 miles in just a few hours to save many lives! It's a great story! Anyway, learn more about it. It's very cool!

Questions Answered

2008-02-25T13:56:00.004-06:00

In attempting to keep with sharing stories and answering questions about "medical stuff", I thought I would answer Amy's question about Automated External Defibrillators (AED's) and their placement on women. The great thing about AED's is that they will walk you through exactly what you are supposed to do and they even give you pictures where to place the pads. For women it is usually no different. You put the pads basically between the breasts on the sternum and to the right and below the right breast. If a women is well-indowed, you can also place the pads one between the breasts or right above the L breast and the other directly in the same place on the back. THis is at times difficult for just one person, but usually if you are doing this in a public place, you won't have that problem.
AED's are awesome and they really DO save lives. My recommendation to non-healthcare providers is to enroll in a basic CPR course. They will not only teach you basic CPR, but it also teaches you how to use AED's properly. You really can save lives by having this information-you NEVER know when you will use it.
More information can be found at the above link.

CURVES update

2008-02-14T22:05:00.003-06:00

I have been waiting to update on the new program I have started at Curves to see how the results are. The new program is called CURVES SMART. It is the same amount of time, but is a MAJOR workout. In this month alone since I started, I have lost 1% body fat, my BMI has gone down 1 point and I have lost inches to the hips, thighs, and other places too! I have lost 1 pound. I figure 1 pound is OK since I am replacing fat with muscle (it does weigh more!). Anyway, just thought I'd update you. Again this CURVES SMART is a great new program. If you are thinking of joining, make sure your Curves has this program.

OK Prayer Warriors...

2008-02-13T23:30:00.002-06:00

So, next week (Tues or Wed) I have my second Pharmacology test. I am totally pumped with how well the first one went, but the second one is like twice the material and it's 3 times as hard (LDR curves, G-coupled proteins, and muscarinic receptors, sounds fun hugh!?)
So, if you think about it between now and especially next Tue or Wed, please pray for me and the test.
Pray for:
-Clarity and understanding of this massive amount of material
-Not to be anxious while taking the test
-Time management the next few days

Snowstorm pictures and some of the girls...

2008-02-07T20:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we had a snow storm. The whole fam stayed home together and we got to just chill and watch the snow, watch movies, study, and just hang out. I LOVE SNOW DAYS-just like when I was a kid.

View from our 3rd floor apartment

Snow pictures from our sunroom

Patah really likes this snow day stuff

Hireq and Patah relaxing on Joel's legs

Hireq enjoying the snow

I need a mask...I passed also!

2008-02-07T00:12:00.000-06:00

So, as stated in a previous blog, I wanted to post some things related to what I (Kim) do and maybe they can help those in blogger land. Well, the point of this post is that laughter is the best medicine! This is one of the funnier stories I have had recently working as an ER nurse. I am sure your minds can run WILD as to the funny things I see on a daily basis. I won't get TOO graphic, but I will share this story.
The other day I was working and it was an extremely busy day! These kind of days can sometimes be trying, but this made it all worth it. I had an elderly lady who came in from the nursing home and nobody there knew what was wrong with her (we're the ER, we are supposed to figure these things out ya know!!!!). Anyway, they thought she had a fever so we HAD to check to make sure we while we were doing so, she tooted SO loud and SO long! The other person helping me just died laughing, of course did too (I am SOOOO professional). She hadn't realized what she had done, which was probably better. But it defintely made us laugh, helping get through the day just a little bit better.
There ya have it Robin! ENJOY!
P.S.
I thought I would let you all know in blogger world that
I PASSED MY FIRST PHARMACOLOGY TEST WITH A B!! WOO HOO! THanks for the prayers!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMBERLY!!!!

2008-01-31T00:16:00.000-06:00

(This is actually JOEL doing a blog post)
In case all of you out there in Bloggerland didn't know, Monday, January 28th was Kim's 29th Birthday, so.... Happy Birthday Kim!
I thank God for bringing this wonderful women into the world 29 years ago and allowing her to be my wife. I am so proud of her and how hard she works at work and school (especially this week!) and how much she cares about people (like you folks!) and how much she desires to serve the Lord. I love being her husband and going through life with her. So everyone make sure and wish her a Happy Birthday!!!

Can you guess what we had for Kim's Birthday dinner??? Anyone who knows Kim very well should know....

Yep... you guessed it. Sushi!!!

Here we are at Kim's favorite Sushi buffet where we eat way too much raw fish for any two people to handle.

Kim and her favorite food.

I guess Kim likes showing off her presents 'cause she wanted me to put this pic up.

1 DOWN 1 TO GO...

2008-01-29T13:14:00.000-06:00

I TOOK MY FIRST DIAGNOSTICS TEST YESTERDAY (ON MY BIRTHDAY) AND TOMORROW IS MY FIRST PHARMACOLOGY TEST...PLEASE PRAY FOR:
~No anxiety during or before the test
~Focus over the next 24 hours to study
~For understanding of the concepts covered
~Confidence during the test
Thanks I appreciate you all so much!

I've been thinkin...

2008-01-22T00:53:00.000-06:00

I was thinking this morning about the reason I created this blog. At first I suppose it was because everyone else was doing it and it was a fun new way to keep up with people I may not otherwise. Now, it is still a way to keep up with people, but I feel I want it to be more. Not that this isn't enough to keep up with people, I LOVE that and have fun looking at all my fellow bloggers blogs. However, since I am a nurse, I thought maybe I should share some stuff I know that maybe others out there don't. I am defintely not an expert, but any means, but I have seen and experienced a lot in my nursing career and thought maybe I should share some. I am also hoping maybe Joel will share a little of his expertise and write a post once in a while about his thoughts on Jesus, the Bible and just general Joel thoughts--I know he has a lot of them.
So, are there any questions that anyone has that I could answer? Anything anyone wants to know?

Every little bit helps...

2008-01-16T16:28:00.000-06:00

I stole this from Erin's blog, but I think it is cool and if I can do any little thing to help, why not?!
Go to this site, play the game and help feed hungry people!

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Also go to Poverty.com to learn more!

A NEW start...HOPEFULLY

2008-01-09T17:32:00.000-06:00

I am not sure how much I have talked about previously regarding my classwork over the summer. Let's go back even more in case y'all don't know at all what I (Kim) am doing. I am working on a Master's degree in nursing which when I am finished, I will be a Family Nurse Practitioner.
Over the summer, I took a Pharmacology class (basically studying drugs and how they effect the body)which I subsequently did not pass. It goes without saying that I was pretty devastated and it really made me re-think what the heck I am doing! I was discouraged and just really thought I was not cut out for this. I don't doubt that I am a good nurse, I know I know what I am doing, but this class just KILLED me.
Anyway, it was possible that I might not be able to continue in the program. However, it has worked that I have one more chance to complete this course. I am also taking 2 additional courses with this one to total 3! That is more than I have done previously so I was able to go down to part time work-only on the weekends!
ALL this to say, I would appreciate all your prayers and encouragement the next 10 weeks as I endeavor on this CRAZY PHARMOCOLOGY adventure.
Sorry to share probably more than what you want to hear. Thanks for reading.

Vote for me!

2008-01-02T11:33:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I am posting this to ask for you to vote for me. I entered a scholarship application to get money for school. I figured this is the quickest way to get it out there. I know it's kind of goofy, but school is expensive, I'm sure a lot of you understand. Thanks and VOTE FOR ME!

http://www.brickfish.com/Pages/PhotosAlbums/
PhotoView.aspx?picid=270852_67355585&=
PPIMEMAIL&isep=1&pbapi=286045&pbvi=8860259

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T16:42:00.000-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of our family and friends!

First Snow

2007-12-16T11:27:00.000-06:00

I have tried to get pictures to capture how beautiful the snow has been here, but it is usually dark when it is so pretty and the pictures don't turn out well. So, here are some pictures of the dogs playing in the first snow of the year! They really love their sweaters!

Turkey Try

2007-12-12T13:06:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, I tried my hand at making a Turkey dinner with all the trimmings. On Thanksgiving I realized I had never done this before and I didn't know if I could. I have watched my grandma, aunt and mom do this for years, but had never done it before. Well, it turned out pretty well. We had some friends over. The doggies even wanted some of the leftovers! OF COURSE!! I also tried (2 times) at making my grandma's roll recipe. It wasn't quite as good as hers, but wow, they were pretty good. It was great to have that taste again. The picture of Joel sitting is putting all the leftovers together! It was tons of fun! I'm glad to know that if I HAD to do it, I could. I think mom's is better though!

Tradition

2007-11-28T23:22:00.000-06:00

Today, Joel and I were able to endeavor on our annual Christmas tradition. We had a great day. I had a meeting at school today, but after that, we met at our area IHOP (International House of Pancakes) for brunch. Then we split up and did some Christmas shopping (we're almost ALL done). We then went and got our REAL Christmas tree! It smells so pretty! We asked what kind of tree hold it's needles best since we are getting it kind of early. Of course, they told us the most expensive, but it is a beautiful tree and it has smelled the whole apartment like pine! I don't even need to buy any candles to make the apartment smell good. Of couse, no Christmas tradition would be complete without some White Chocolate Mocha and Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks! The tree is decorated, almost done with shopping, and even got some laundry done...thanks to my wonderful and productive hubby! Enjoy the pictures! It was a great day of tradition!

BUCKEYE WIN!!!!!!

2007-11-17T15:41:00.000-06:00

Joel and I had a party today in celebration of the very long rivalry between the OHIO STATE BUCKEYES and MICHIGAN WOLVERINES! SUCCESS!! THe Buckeyes won! It was such a great game and we had tons of food and good times. We had just a few people from work including MO-a fellow ER nurse and die-hard BUCKEYE! It was a great Saturday to relax and enjoy football, buckeyes, chili and fun.

SICKO...ANY THOUGHTS?

2007-11-08T18:47:00.000-06:00

Hey bloggers!
Well, we finally broke down and watched the long-awaited SICKO that EVERYONE kept telling me I needed to see. I must say, I was a bit skeptical. Not only is it about healthcare, but it is written by Michael Moore. Well, I must admit, I agreed wtih ALMOST everything he said. He was right on and hit a lot of topics that I have been frustrated about for years. I also learned a lot that I didn't know.
All in all, I think it is a MUST see. I think every healthcare worker should see it, but also every healthcare consumer.
I look forward to hearing your comments about what you think...Hint HINT!

Reformed?

2007-10-31T20:17:00.000-05:00

As I handed out candy to about 10 kids today for Halloween, it struck me that I should post not about Halloween, but about October 31st. Now if you say "October 31st" the first thing that comes to mind is pumpkins, candy, scariness, and kids. The sermon that I heard this past Sunday talked of a very different October 31st, which is Reformation Day as well as Halloween. Reformation Day is the celebration of the Reformation. As a re-cap of what the Reformation is...

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of indulgences. This proposal is popularly known as the 95 Theses, which he nailed to the Castle Church doors. This was not an act of defiance or provocation as is sometimes thought. Since the Castle Church faced Wittenberg's main thoroughfare, the church door functioned as a public bulletin board and was therefore the logical place for posting important notices. Also, the theses were written in Latin, the language of the church, and not in the vernacular. Nonetheless, the event created a controversy between Luther and those allied with the Pope over a variety of doctrines and practices. When Luther and his supporters were excommunicated in 1520, the Lutheran tradition was born.

As there were trick or treaters tricking and treating, I couldn't help but thinking of my roots, the roots of the church and the importance of this day on 1517. I praise God for His hand in the life of Martin Luther and for the listening ears of Luther himself. May I have the strength and courage to listen and hear God's voice and to feel His hand nudging.

WOMEN of FAITH

2007-10-22T21:26:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I was able to go to Minnesota for the Women of Faith conference. It has been recommended to me before that I needed to go, but what a blessing to be able to go with my mom, 2 aunts, cousin and other new friends. It was an amazing weekend and we had great "girl" time together.
The conference title was "Amazing Freedom". I encourage you women out there to go to the website and check out some of their stuff
www.womenoffaith.com
OR
if you have the AWESOME opportunity to go to a conference, it will change your life!
Thanks Aunt Donna and Heidi for putting this together for all of us to come.
What an amazing, freeing weekend!

O-H-I-O AND Cleveland ROCKS!!!

2007-10-15T21:43:00.000-05:00

NEED I SAY MORE?????
Ohio State moves to #1!!

Blessings...

2007-10-07T21:58:00.000-05:00

God is good.
We hear that and sometimes may even say that often, but do we always think about what that means? God is good, whether we are or not, whether our circumstances stink or not, whether we are focused on Him daily or whether we are focused on ourselves. Blessings from God can come in many different shapes and sizes, they can be people, they can be, well anything. Today we got an amazing blessing that really came at "just the right time." A lady came up to us at church today and gave us a gift of money. She told us that Joel had been so great and that we really held a special place in her heart. It is wonderful to hear these things and they really remind you that you are and have done what God has called. But when we looked at the amount of money she gave, we were floored! It was a HUGE blessing for us and it really helped us with unexpected bills we have had!
God is good! He is good yesterday, today and forever. I am so thankful for His blessings to us in the form of money, but in the form of relationships, love and strength.
Hallelujah!

What are YOUR blessings today?

A Fun Fall Recipe

2007-10-01T17:28:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share this recipe with you. I made it last fall and people at work enjoyed it. I wasn't sure what I would think of putting together chocolate and pumpkin, but it's actually very good. Let me know what you think...

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

INGREDIENTS
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.