Mother's Day Again

Happy Mother's Day again!

Today is "Día de la Madre" here in the Dominican Republic. Our school had a Mother's Day concert this week where the children sang songs and recited poems for their Moms. They also made cards and gifts although I think the teachers did most of the work.

At church today the kids did a presentation for the Moms too and made notes and foam flowers. It was not too much different than Mother's Day in Canada or the United States, just a couple weeks later.

I love being a Mom to these three kids!

(Ok, so it's hard to get all three smiling in one picture.)

Next we look forward to two Father's Days!

Have a great day!

Marcie Cooper

Bamboo

Hello!

When I think of Bamboo I think of pandas and China. Don't you? Well, we have lots of bamboo here in the Dominican Republic too. In fact, there's a lot of it growing right across the street from our team house.

Look how tall it gets! See how small the fence looks?

Dominicans make lots of furniture out of bamboo. If you come and stay in our team house, you will be able to sit on some (although I'll warn you that it's not very comfortable.)

And as you fall asleep after a long day of construction and playing with kids, you'll hear creaking as the tall bamboo sways across the street.

Goodnight!

Marcie Cooper

P.S. For more information on Kids Alive Service Teams go to http://www.kidsalive.org/involvement/volunteer-service-teams/

Evergreen Trees

Hello!

I mentioned in my Mother's Day message that I was given a pinecone. I expected to see palm trees when we came to the Dominican Republic but I was surprised by the evergreens!

(Around the corner from our house)

(On a school field trip to the north coast)

A lot of furniture here is made out of pine. The only problem with it is that it often gets termites. Since we've been here, the owners of our house have replaced our kitchen cupboards and all of our doors because of the termites. I'm hoping that we won't see any more for a while!

Come back tomorrow for another kind of tree and furniture that you might not expect to find in the Dominican Republic.

Have a great day!

Marcie Cooper

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

A couple days ago my little girl asked me if she could give me an early Mother's Day present. She had searched our yard for some flowers and presented me with these:

Her little brother followed and gave me a handful of leaves:



This morning I was given a pinecone, another yellow flower, a sign that said, "Hapy Mother's Day!" and the same handful of leaves. I don't think any expensive gift could measure up to that!

Dominicans celebrate Mother's Day in a couple weeks and classes are busy preparing songs for a special concert for Moms.  What an honour to celebrate Mother's Day twice!

Have a great Mother's Day!

Marcie Cooper

Bananas

Hello!
Last week we were looking at how tall our banana tree was getting and wondering when we would get bananas. This week it decided to start revealing them!

We noticed the beginnings of a bunch on Tuesday.

I missed taking a picture on Wednesday but by Thursday we definitely had some fruit. A neighbour boy was playing at our house and when he saw me with the camera he said, "They're nothing more than bananas!" I told him that bananas didn't grow in Canada. We're excited about our bananas!



On Friday there were even more.

And this is how they looked this morning.

It will still take a long time for them to grow and ripen but I'll keep you posted!

Have a great day!

Marcie Cooper

Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

Hello!

Earlier this week, I asked a little girl in my AWANA group how she could be saved, or get to heaven someday. She answered, "By being good." She's often one who has trouble behaving but the good news is that we don't have to be good enough to get to heaven! We would never make it! She had even memorized Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."


Ephesians 2 goes on to tell us in verse 10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." God has made us to do good even though goodness is not always easy. That's why it's a fruit of the Spirit. It's a result of the Holy Spirit working in us.

Are you trying to be good on your own? Or are you walking in the good works that God has prepared for you?

I hope that you will seek God's good, right, and perfect plan for you today!

Marcie Cooper

Cinco de Mayo

Hello!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! The "Fifth of May" is a day celebrating Mexican heritage and, in particular, the Mexican Army's victory over the French on May 5, 1862. Did you know that their Independence Day is actually September 16th? While there are a few similarities between the Dominican Republic and Mexico (language, religion, Latin culture, etc.) there are differences as well. For example, people here don't eat typical mexican foods. Dominicans don't celebrate Cinco de Mayo so it was a normal Saturday for us here.

I'm just sitting here drinking ""Te de Tilo." I accidentally bought it at the grocery store because its little green box looked just like the peppermint one that I usually buy. I knew that "Te de" meant "tea of" but I had no idea what tilo was! It turns out that it's "Linden Tea" which seems to have quite a few health benefits like relieving headaches, colds, fevers, sore throats, and sleeplessness. It doesn't have as much flavour as the peppermint tea I was expecting but hopefully I'll feel good and sleep well!

Goodnight!

Marcie Cooper