Sister bear...

is doing much better today. We took the advice of Lillia, the owners wife and fed her a bottle at 11pm last night. She suggested that we keep her up until then but that was not gonna happen! I was just about ready for bed and she whimpered. It was perfect timing. We went downstairs and Lillia had prepared her "special" bottle. She boiled Valeria's milk, added a pinch of cilantro and 2 pieces of lettuce. Yes, you read that correctly. When we got to the kitchen, Lillia was testing the temperature and then pouring it into the bottle. IT WORKED! She ate 3 oz and slept from 11:17pm-6:30am. What a relief. Bruce got up with her and allowed me to catch up on rest. Thank You, Jesus!

It's obvious that her foster mother spoiled her for nap and bed time. She is crying even as I type this because she doesn't want to go to sleep. I'm right beside her. She knows I'm near. There is no noise, which is a first. She's been fed. She's clean and has a clean diaper. But it wasn't her idea to sleep so she's not happy. She's pulling her hair, like she does, when she's tired. It's time for a nap. She's so tired but won't allow herself to go to sleep. We can't go for a walk every time she needs to sleep. Stubborn. Colombian. She just took a breath but is back at yelling. She is sooo mad! So strong. I just patted her bottom while she's laying in her bed and hummed, "God is so Good." She got quiet and finally shut her eyes. When my arm could no longer reach over and down the pack-n-play, I stopped. She's screaming again. Now she's sitting up and giving me an ugly look while she screams at the top of her lungs. Sure hope no one is trying to nap in this house.

Yesterday for lunch we had PB&J's. At 2:00 Bruce and I asked Doris if she had eaten lunch. After a long "trying" conversation of translation, we determined that she had not eaten lunch. She showed us some crackers that she brought from home but said she doesn't eat lunch. She just works. We weren't going to have it. Bruce brought all of the stuff for sandwiches down to the kitchen. I began to make 2 sandwiches. I pointed to one of the sandwiches and said, "Doris." She said, "NO!" I said, "SI!" She said, "NO!" We went back and forth the entire time I made our sandwiches. I added chips and set them at the table. She sat with me. I asked her if she had ever had a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich. She said, "Oh no! This is how the rich eat." I answered her, "The rich?" She nodded yes. I then went on to say this was a very inexpensive way for us to eat in the States. She said it was very delicious. She ate in a timely manner and was back to hard work. This was the highlight of my day...sitting with Doris, my new and special friend, someone who God gave to me to love and show His love. Just thinking of leaving her makes my heart ache.

We spent some time in the evening talking with Maurice and Lillia, the owners. Their daughter, Sophia is eleven. She came home from school with three friends. They were enamored by Josh. They went up to Bella and Pamella asked, "how old your brother? what is his name?" We answered her, she went to the other girls and they all giggled. Josh did NOT like this attention. It upset him at first. He was mortified and wanted to stay in our room for dinner. However, since Bruce had been spending time with Maurice a bit, Maurice offered to take Bruce to the store. While they were there, Bruce offered to buy he and Lillia steaks and to eat with us. They returned and Bruce said we were all eating together. Sounded like a great plan IF it didn't leave Doris out. I asked Maurice if Doris could eat with us and he said, "she's working now." I said nothing else about it. I felt sick over it. How could we all sit and eat steak and have Doris wait on us? What if she hadn't had lunch with me? What about her feelings and self worth? When everything was put on plates and the table was set, Maurice asked Doris to join us. I was so relieved at that point. I winked at her from across the table and I served myself and our family when we needed napkins, etc. She is our friend, not our servant.

Baby girl just fell asleep. I think we've got a tiger by it's tail. She is a strong girl. Still very sweet, playful and easy going as well. She will be a great leader someday!

Our outing today was a walk to Carulla (the grocery store). All the way down the hill, beautiful sunlight shining down on us, happy kids, happy family. Grabbed a few items, delicious fruit and lunch and then we were headed up the mountain to return to our place. As a side note, I packed sooo much candy for this trip. I wanted to know that I could get my hands on it and not have to pay a fortune for it. Some of the American items are outrageous...Ocean Spray juice $15...Motts Apple Juice $12. I was proud of myself for buying candy beforehand...M&M's, Gobstoppers, Sugar Babies, Life Savers, Hot Tamales, Rolos and MORE! You will not believe this...IT'S ALL GONE! What??!! I should have hid it from the boys! I could hardly stand it so I bought some bite sized Snickers today for more than I would spend in the States. This girl MUST have her chocolate! ;)

The kids are swimming and Bruce is trying to get ahold of Doris on the telephone. Doris has her first day off since we got here. Can you imagine working 12-14 hour days and getting a day off after 10 days? Unbelievable to me. Turns out she works tonight...all night and can't go to church with us. Bummer!

I received a call a couple days ago from Pastor Andrew McMillan. He is an American that lives in Medellin and pastors one of the larger churches here. We are really looking forward to going to church tomorrow at The Community of Faith Church in El Poblado. It's nearby but we will still take a taxi. Pastor Andrew received our names and number from Dr. Torres. He was so excited that we are coming to his church. He said that when we arrive, to let the ushers know who we are. At that time we will be taken to him and he will have special seats for us at the front. I'm hoping we can have lunch together. We would love to hear more about him and how he ended up in Medellin from W. Virginia. We can't wait to be in a place of praise tomorrow! We so need it!

God has answered prayers...Josh's neck is better! Bella's issue has been taken care of and Bruce and I are on the same page again. Thank you so much for praying. I'm not sure where we would be without your prayers and friendship.

I'm going to try to upload pictures now. It's not been working the last couple days.

Mucho amor, Ruth