On the 12th Day of Christmas…

We gave thanks for warm sunny days and summer time!  This year we celebrate each Day of Christmas by appreciating 12 new beautiful flowers that bloomed in our yard! Happy Summer! And a very warm Happy New Year!

These 12 beautiful flowers grew all on their own, right in our yard.

Happy Birthday Puba!

Today is Puba’s Birthday.  So, Puba turns 3(ish) today.  She is part of our family and brings us endless love and entertainment.  Enjoy a silly clip of her, as we get to enjoy her everyday!

We don’t really know how old she.  We don’t know where exactly she came from.  We don’t know who her parents, brothers and/or sisters are.  We don’t know much about her genes.  But we know that today, October 13, is the day we chose to celebrate Puba’s life!

Puba is our mix-breed street dog, who we rescued here in Madagascar.  Puba came into our lives in May 2012 and unofficially became ours in late June 2012 – once we actually had a place to live.  Having only been in Madagascar 4 months, with a place to call home 1 week, Puba was unexpected and joyously welcomed into our family. Puba called the streets of Antsirabe home for the first 10 or so months of her life.  She roamed and played and scrapped by for food.  Puba was about 9 kilos (almost 20 pounds) when we brought her home; today she is a happy 16.5 kilos (about 36 pounds).

Puba is beautiful, lazy, funny, alert, kind, spoiled, affectionate, silly, a barker, hunter, lover of walks, licker, chewer of bones, digger and lover of belly rubs.

Happy Birthday Puba!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessings on Pentecost

Dubbed one of the largest churches in Africa, yes in all of the Africa, this FLM church has over 10,000 members.  At our service alone, starting at 6:30am (but our friend Sthela arrived at 5:30 to get us good seats), had over 5,000 worshippers, and the service only lasted three hours.  Worship today was full of celebration as the promise of the Holy Spirit entered and reentered into our hearts and faith.

Celebrating Holy Communion at 67 Hectares Malagasy Lutheran Church

Sthela has been worshiping at this church most of her life, and knows every hymn by heart.  The Malagasy sing with a robustness that I have never experienced in my life, there is such joy in all the music, and the sheer volume of 5,000+ voices in harmony is truly an amazing experience as we worshipped our One God.

After Worship With Our Good Buddy Sthela

After a celebration like that, Tanya and I came home to be with family and made a good ole Brunch.  And we’ll be giving thanks tomorrow as we continue to journey with the Sprit on Pentecost Monday, yep, it’s a continued holiday here in Madagascar.  Maybe we’ll follow the Malagasy tradition and go for picnic.

The Family on Pentecost

John 14:¹⁵”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another -Advocate, Holy Comforter, Counselor- to be with you forever.¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

-Austin 

Look what we found!

Chameleon in our yard!

Pretty dragonfly in our tree!