Here, We Party Like It's 1999, At Every 6 Year Old Birthday Party!

One thing we have learned about Mexicans and the Mexican Culture is that they sure know how to throw a party. Especially a kid's birthday party. We have now been to about half a dozen birthdays parties between the kids classmates and to this point every one has topped any party we have ever attended in the States.

This last week we had two parties. On Thursday, the parents rented out a large facility with inflatables and other kids toys. They also brought in a full fledged, fully decked out Star Wars cast that put on performances for the kids. Not only this, but they hired several street vendors to provide food. I mentioned to one of my co-workers that I felt like I was at a community 4th of July celebration with all of the food options from lonches, hot dogs, burgers to more traditional Mexican fare. Truly incredible. To top it off, every kid was given a replica light saber that turns different colors with all of the appropriate sounds! (Pictures Below)

Not only do they throw great parties, they throw long parties! On Saturday we had another birthday fiesta. The mom told me it started at 1. We have learned that you never show up on time to a party in Mexico, no one does! We got there at 1:45 and were still the first people there. The mother then told me that yes the party does start at 1, but no one will probably come until 2 or 3. We sat there as they finished setting up. They told us they were having a farm as this was a cowboy themed party. We thought this meant maybe an inflatable barn and toys. No, it actually meant a farm. About 2:15 the door to the garage opened and the farm came in. A donkey, a miniature horse, a full sized horse for pony rides (Joelle took 4), pigs, a goat, a sheep, chickens, roosters, bunnies, and to top it off a llama! All in the backyard of this families house. You ever had a llama in your backyard! Around 7:30 the party was still roaring, but we thought it might be time to go. We went to leave and the host implored us to stay as the pinata had not yet been broken. So we stayed and left about 8 while everyone else was still partying away. They wore the Americans out!

With this being said, these parties have been a great chance for us to be seen time and time again by the same parents so we have started to get to know many of them.

While both of these sets of parents were well off, we were told that even families of low means here will save all year long just to throw a good party for family and friends for a birthday or some other reason. It is an issue of great pride for them. As Americans, after 7 hours we felt we had overstayed our welcome, yet our hostess implored us to stay longer. In the States, we would be ushering people out after 3 hours! They truly are honored that you are able to enjoy what they have provided and WOW do they provide. They have a strong culture of hospitality. This hospitality is something Joy and I have learned from and hope to do a better job duplicating in our lives.

The Power of What You Approve

Recently, a fellow teacher shared with me a conversation that he had with a parent of one of the students at the school. Somehow the conversation moved to the release of the new Harry Potter film that was coming out. As the conversation moved here, the teacher expressed to me the passion of the parent against Harry Potter.



The teacher, not really for or against Harry Potter, listened to the parent. The teacher shared that many American Christians he knew do not have a problem with Harry Potter. She then went on to say "That is because Christianity is "light" in America". She then expressed how amazed she was that people would spend their hard earned money on items that support and promote witch craft and a spiritual darkness.



With this being said, the point of my post is not to give an opinion on Harry Potter, but about what we approve. Mexican believers I have found, do have a real sense of the spiritual world. In many ways, there is a darkness here that exists in few places in the US. (Even though I and many others have seen it in our inner cities). They tend to be very discerning and sensitive to things that deal with dark sprituality like Halloween. They also make judgments on our faith because of what we do approve.



One thing we have learned here is how big an impact that American Christianity has on Mexico. I would have never considered this while in the States, but they know much more about us and our faith then I would have known. Because of the number of Mexican immigrants in the States and the constant movement back and forth over the border, it is rare to find Mexicans who don't have an understanding about America. Not only an understanding, but definitely an opinion!



We realized that as American Christians we have an incredible impact on the growth of the gospel in Mexico whether we know it or not. They seee what we approve and what we do not approve. They see how we behave and they make decisions. The testimony of the American church is ringing loud and clear in Mexico.



Regretfully, the message, while clear, is not clearly of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We Have Joined the Revolution!

Without a doubt, Mexico has a revolutionary spirit. The school every month does what is called a Mexican Flag Salute. Unlike the States, their is no daily recital of a pledge, but rather a monthly culture/revolutionary celebration. The occassion involves students dressed in suits with well choreographed marching orders. The Flag salute is often followed by some sort of culture celebration, either a dance, play or both.

This month Joelle was part of a play and was asked to dress up in traditional Mexican attire. We did as best as we could as you could see by the picture, but still a long way from traditional attire (as you can also see). Not only was she instructed to dress as a Mexican princess, we were also instructed to make armor belts for her to wear over her dress. I was then told that Mexican women are beautiful and tough!

If you ever get a chance to read Mexican History, you will see how the revolutionary spirit penetrates and shapes the national identify of Mexico.

Because a majority of the teachers are American, they at times do also let the American flag be part of the salute. The American flag follows the Mexican flag. This month, Edan was given the honor to be part of this group and give the marching orders. He was nervous, but did a great job!

Something To Think About!

I want to share a story of an encounter Joy had with a couple students in her class. Recently, Joy's students were discussing whether they ever wanted to go the United States. Different students had different opionions on this matter, but one student in particular really got Joy thinking. He emphatically stated that he did not want to go to the States. He said he had visited before for 2 months and no one there was friendly and he made no friends. His exact words were "No one wants to be friends with a Mexican." Joy then shared with him that we have struggled making friends in Mexico. Another student quickly responded, "You don't get it Mrs. Young. There are no Christians in Mexico."

As Joy shared this story with me, we really began thinking. This student was saying as much about American Christianity as he was America. He assumed because the US had many Christians he would find friendly people. On the reverse, the reason why we didn't have many friends in Mexico is that there were few Christians here so people did not have the same focus to befriend us.

This is a story that convicted us and we really think should be considered by American Christians. Throbs of internationals from countries with little gospel exposure enter our country every year. I hazard to say that we interact with them daily in the States and think little about it or them. They judge Christianity by the response they receive in our country. This is both a curse and blessing. We know that many they encounter are not believers and shed no positive light on Christianity. Yet, for believers in the States their is a great opportunity to penetrate the most hardened countries with the gospel. These internationals come seeking opportunity and friendship. Many return to their countries eventually. We have the chance as believers to impact not just them, but countries where the gospel is but a dim light. I would challenge believers to think about this truth.

On the other side of this truth, Joy now understands one of the reasons why one of her students is so resitant to the truth of the gospel. We have the opportunity daily to be a blessing to all we come in contact with. Our witness, even at home, will stretch to the ends of the earth.

Camp Mayto Final Day

Saddly enough, we knew the experience had to end. Surely enough day 4 came and the time for our trip home as well. None of us were looking forward to the bus ride home, but we all were ready for a good shower and a long night sleep in our own beds.


During the trip, the students did a great job embracing the kids. Since we both teach middle school, we really didn't know the 12th graders before we left. Despite this, they made us feel part of the group and many of them fell in love with the kids. It was not uncommon during the day to see David and Edan playing board games or card games with the kids while Joelle sat cuddled on some teen girls lap or found herself being buried in the sand by a group of teens. The students were great!

Before we left, Marilyn and Jon Bennett (A wonderful British couple that we met at the camp who had lived there the past 3 months) took the kids down to the beach to release turtles one last time. During these times, Joelle would often hold up the turtles and yell "Fly away baby turtle". They never did fly away, but these last couple of turtles all made it to the water safely. This week as a family we released over a 100 turtles and as a group we released around 1500.

We then packed our stuff, took a group picture, and made sure we got a seat up front near the bus TV's so the kids could be pacified by the movies on the long trip home.

The bus ride home, while long, because it was during the day allowed us to really appreciate the scenery of the trip. The whole trip was up and through mountains. We made a half way stop in Puerto Vallarta to grab some lunch, ironically at McDonald's. (It was the worst meal we had the whole trip). We arrived home about 8 o'clock and were all happy to be home. We spent some time reflecting, knowing that we had just embarked on a once in a lifetime experience. (Unless we go next year!)

One last funny thing about the trip I missed. One of the teachers said today that Edan was overheard saying to another one of my kids, "We are not here to have fun. We are here to save baby turtles!"

Camp Mayto Day 3

Day 2 was absolutely overwhelming. We didn't know how day 3 could follow it or if we would have enough energy if it did. While it was a little more laid back day, it still succeeded in wearing us all out.

The day started with a great traditional breakfast of Chilaquiles and Frijoles. Chilaquiles are tortilla chips that have been cooked in sauce and turned into this incredible spongy, delicious meal. As I said before, the food was incredible. This started a string of 4 straight meals with frijoles. While a dream for Edan and I, not so much for our weak stomached, non bean eating family members.

Right after breakfast, we took a 30 minute pickup ride. After stopping, we hiked a short way through some hills until we came to a waterfall pool. Here we spent the morning swimming and hiking along the rocks.

We then headed back to camp for some incredible, fresh shrimp and fish tacos. As in the states, I can define many of my experiences by the quality of the food. Still the same in Mexico!

We then were given the afternoon to relax. The camp actually had a sand volleyball court, a trampoline, and a traditional backyard circle swimming pool. On another note, the beach all along the coast in front of the camp was unswimmable. The waves came in at 8-12 feet and the under current was so severe they would not let us swim. Even the camp staff, most devoted surfers, would not surf the waves, only bogey board the surf and then run in as the next wave came crashing down. While we couldn't swim, it made for some beautiful evenings watching the sun set on the Pacific with the waves crashing in. As we slept each night, the waves sounded like a continual thunder rolling in against the shore.

That evening we got to partake of a special event. There were 22 turtle nests that had to be dug up. To give you a little background on the turtle preserve. The camp staff goes out every night to collect turtle eggs as they are laid or to find the nests and dig them up. They then bring the turtle eggs back to camp and bury them in the sand just as the mother turtle does. In the wild people estimate that only 1:100 to 1:1000 turtles make it to full growth. Their most vulnerable time is from the moment they are laid through their first few months at sea. Not only do dogs and other animals dig up the eggs. Mexicans also dig up the eggs and eat them or sell them at market. This has been a difficult balancing act for the staff as they have to coexist with the local community with no law enforcement. They diplomatically try to run off all poachers, but they do at times have to deal with hostile poachers. Last week they were threatened by Machete one evening and their families threatened to be killed who lived locally. Rural areas of Mexico like this generally govern themself so the staff does many things in the community to build good will. They have removed a food source and a way to make money. They try to replace this by also helping with building projects in the town and bringing money in through the school trips.

That day we also got to see another danger to these baby turtles. We had to release some turtles in the morning on Day 3. While they were being released, a pack of scavenger birds made their way over. The boys fought valiantly against the birds, throwing sand balls, running, and yelling at them. Despite their efforts, the resiliance of the birds showed the difficulty these small turtles have in making it to the ocean just 30 feet from their nest.

As I mentioned earlier, they had 22 nests to dig up that evening. The turtles incubate for 25 days and then hatch. It is an exact science. 22 nights earlier they had their biggest find ever as they had found 22 turtle nests in one evening. Each nest has about 100 eggs. The students entered into the pen and by hand dugg up the nests and sure enough pulled up the hatched baby turtles as the staff took counts for their records. In all, the students brought up 1500 baby turtles in that one evening. It was incredible to watch them pull up handful after handful of baby turtles.

That evening we had another incredible releasing of 400 turtles into the sea as the sun set. As we released them, Joelle spontaneously and adorably began to sing "Happy Birthday" as they crawled to the sea. She then broke out into the traditional Mexican chant "Alabio Alabao Alabimbomba, tortugita, tortugita ra ra ra". We here this chant all over Mexico. We still don't know what it means. Traditionally tortugita is replaced with Mexico, but at David's basketball games overexcited moms put the team name in as well as they scream the chant!

Also that evening, we got the opportunity to go out again on the 4X4 ride. This night, while we again saw no turtles, we did find a nest. We dug up the 99 eggs and brought them back. Also, because we had so many turtles that evening we realeased several more by moon light. It was quite an experience to sit under the stars and watch them waddle to the sea by the light of the moon. As we watched, Edan humorously suggested as each turtle found its way to the ocean that they now officially had become "sea turtles".

By the end of day 3 the kids were dead. On the way back in, as they sat nestled in a box on the back of a 4X4 they each had fallen asleep. We were a little nervous as we watched them bob side to side with each hill that they would fall out. Luckily, they all survived the way back to camp!

Camp Mayto Day 2

By the beginning of day 2, the worries of the trip were long gone and the excitement of what was to come dragged us along. Despite Brian's battle in the night with a bad hamburguesa(though delicious on the way down), we were all ready to go in the morning.

After seeing and releasing the baby turtles the previous evening, we were excited to come into contact with some of the full grown sea turtles that morning. We took a ride in the back of a pickup truck 15 minutes to the quaint fishing harbor of Tehuamixtle (google it if you want to find our location (Mayto is the road just to the north so small its given no name on the map).

On a side note, the pickup truck rides were an experiencing in themselves. Every day the Camp Staff took us to different locations rather quickly in old trucks across bumpy dirt roads. We actually joked about feeling very Mexican at these moments as truckloads full of people driving everywhere in Mexico is extremely common. Something like this would be deemed very dangerous in the US, here you would be laughed at for such a notion, it is a necessity.

The town, we assumed, was home to no more then 100-200 people, a collection of families who made their living off the ocean and the handful of brave locals and tourists who made the long dirt road trip. At first, the excitement of the trip for us and the kids was tempered, as the entry to the small harbor contained a replica 20 foot Great White with teeth blazing. Other pictures around the port showed the Great White attacking the same sea turtles we were about to swim with. We wondered if we were entereing our very own Jaws movie! Despite this, we all agreed we were going in!

We took a 20 minute ocean boat ride around the harbor to an area in front of the camp beach. Here in a short period of time we found 5 large sea turtles. We weren't sure how we were going to swim with these wild creatures. They weren't in a cage much like our previous experiences with dolphins. We soon found out. We would come up to a turtle slowly, and the fearless environmental leader of the camp, Israel, would jump off the front of the boat on to the back of the turtle. He and the creature would dissapear below the water only to immerge moments later with Israel victoriously holding a large turtle in his arms. We all then jumped into the ocean and swam with the turtles. We took turns holding the turtles as one by one a student or teacher would lose hold and the turtle would dart away into the ocean. We had loved swimming with dolphins, but I enjoyed this even more as there was something beautful about being a mile out in the ocean, swimming with these great creatures, wondering if a Great White was about to attack!

Joelle and Edan wanted to get out in the ocean so Joy jumped in the fridged water and another person handed down Joelle first. The moment her toes touched the water she started screaming to be pulled out. Not only was the expanse of the ocean overwhelming, it was COLD. Edan was next and his response was very similar. They were releasing the second turtle when Joelle and Edan jumped in and Joy tried to quickly coax them to the turtle so they could at least say they swam with the turtles. They also swam with a dog as Chata was swimming right next to them trying to get someone to let him back in the boat. Edan eventually did jump in, Joelle tried once more and the result was the same, back in the boat.

We then went back to harbor and were given two hours to relax and enjoy. Their wasn't much to do other then swim as this remote town contained no tourists shops. We swam the waves with the kids and took turns napping on the beach. We also watched a fisherman pull up a 100 lb fish and fillet it on the dock. Later as we partook of an incredible feast of shrimp (fried, sauteed, cocktail, and ceviche) as well as fried and broiled fish, we couldn't help but wonder if this was the same fish we had seen filleted just and hour earlier. Here there was not menu, just catch of the day! This was confirmed as one man walked in with 5 lobsters in his hand and 30 minutes later the cook brought them out to him and his friends!

If this wasn't enough, we then embarked on a 30 minute hike to a completely isolated, rock strewn bay. On the wall of the bay we were led to a bat cave. Here we took turns heading into the cave. We were greeted by bats flying all around us as the flash lights disturbed their peaceful slumber. The kids were fearless, but on more then one occassion I (Brian) was found to be hovering in the corner of the cave! Joelle on the other hand was begging to hold the bats. She didn't quite get to hold it, but got to pet one.

We then headed back to the camp to for a dinner snack and some down time before our night time excursion.

That evening it was our turn to go out on the 12 km 4by4 ride to find nesting turtles and recover their eggs. From 10 pm to 12pm we rode up and down the beach, flying over small dunes down the beach. The only light of the night came from our vehicles, the moon and the stars. While we failed to locate a turtle that night (only group to do so on the trip), we were treated to one of those very special evenings where the stars are bigger then you ever imagined. We stopped for a while just to stand and look. While there was some dissapointment over not seeing a turtle, the remote beauty of the beach and night made up for it.

Day 2 was definitely unforgettable.

Day One in Mayto, Mexico

After weeks of excitement and idyllic expectations, we headed out with a group of 12th grade students on a long trip down to the reomte Mayto beach, home of the Sea Turtle Restoration program. This was a Science field trip for the students and a much needed opportunity to explore Mexico for us



As we headed out on the 10 hour bus trip with 3 small children we still couldn't help but wonder, is this potion going to be combustible! We tried to keep the kids up until midnight so they would sleep the entire trip, regretfully Joelle couldn't handle this and fell asleep at 10:30. We got to the school and the bus was late, Joelle slept outside on a pile of pillows and the boys, while practicing their karate chops, almost woke her up.


We knew the success of the trip depended on how we would negotiate the kids sleep at the beginning. Brian and I always struggle sleeping in moving buses and we wondered how the kids would do. The bus came, we loaded everything and tried desperately to find seats together as the excited 12th graders quickly staked their claims. Joelle slept on me and David slept on Brian for a good part of the trip. The difficulty was all of the winding, mountain roads leading both David and Edan to feel sick during the trip. Luckily the boys didn't get sick, but regretfully with 3 hours to go Joelle couldn't hold it in. At this point we were really wondering what we were doing as we were then told the final two hours were the worst! We stopped right after Joelle threw-up and we were able to get some kids Dramamine. I think this helped us complete the journey.



The last 37 KM (About 22 miles) took us over 2 hours. We were on a single lane dirt highway up and through rolling mountains. It was beautiful and intimidating at the same time as we came to both beautiful vistas and small turns we never thought a bus could make! After a tense 2 hours, we rounded a corner and there it was, the Pacific Ocean! We had quite a walk to the camp site, but we were all happy to tumble out of the bus and take in the beauty of the remote beach.



We set up camp and ate. (The food was 4 days of incredible traditional Mexican dishes) The 12th graders headed out to a reforsetation project, we actually stayed behind to get the kids a much needed 3 hour nap. It is amazing how comfortable a tent is after 10 hours in a bus! After this good nap, we actually felt the kids had navigated the early sleep challenge.



Later that day we took a camp tour. Our Spanish is getting better so we understood most of it, but as you can see from the pictures above the kids were distracting us with their new found friends, hermit crabs!


Joelle had to go to the bathroom and that's when we saw the turtles hatching out of their eggs for the first time. "Ah, que bonita baby turtles!" Joelle shouts. She was really into ALL the animals we saw on the trip. The snake at lunch, "Chata" the dog, bats, crabs and especially the turtles. (We also had a lemur run through camp and a tarantula that was crossing the road.) With all of the exotic wildlife (and some not so exotic as the camp had a chicken coup with a very loud early morning rooster) , Joelle most frenquently could be heard yelling "Ven Chata" summoning the camp dog!

In the evening as the sun was setting we each got to release baby turtles on the beach. This was highlight for everyone on the trip. After everyone released one they let my kids release most of those that were left. I was a little nervous about the kids not being gentle enough or stepping on one, but then I was told that they sometimes just dump the bucket out. It was absolutely majestic as we watched the 30 min sunset trip of the turtles to the sea!



Day one started with a lot questions and ended with a lot of incredible expectations for what was to come on the rest of the trip!

Heading to the Beach!

We are headed with the 12th grade class to camp on the beach! We are really excited about this trip. We are going out to find the turtles in the ocean and watch baby turtles hatch, see bats, and maybe even go to a crocodile farm.

What will make or break this trip is SLEEP! We are leaving in a few hours, at midnight, for an 8 hour drive down there. My kids are already showing signs that they need to go to bed, but we have kept them up because of the hope that they will sleep better on the bus. As for me I usually do not sleep well unless I have a bed. Thinking about taking some type of sleeping agent.

Brian and I have said before that we love all the many things you do while you camp except the sleeping part. On our first anniversary we went camping only to pack up everything around midnight due to the fact we couldn't sleep. We have camped before with a futon matress we put in the back of a van, but now that we are getting a little older we don't do so well on the ground. We perfer camping in a cabin or visiting a park and checking in the motel, but this is an awesome opportunity. As long as we can get some sleep it will be a great trip!

After we get back and have a little time we will try to add some pictures. I tried the other day, but our internet connection was too slow. Hopefully that won't be the case.

How are we adjusting?

I get asked a lot how Brian, the kids and I are adjusting. I thought I would give you a bit of an update on just that.

Joelle (4 years old)

Joelle practices and speaks the most Spanish. While she doesn’t quit understand everything and makes up half of her Spanish words she’s not afraid to practice. Her Spanglish is getting excellent. The other day at the store she was asking for Christmas presents and she said, “Este para Christmasa!” (her attempt to say “this for Christmas”)

She has her moments of disobedience in the classroom at school. She is also adjusting going to school along with moving to a new country. I have been told that many of the times she is disobedient, because she HAS to jump out of line to give all her friends in the other classes hugs and tell them she loves them. Her teacher told me that all the kids have learned the English words “I love you” because of Joelle. After school you will see Joelle running up to people both teachers and students and giving them great big hugs. Joelle is very well liked!

She also has been known to repeat like a parrot everything her teacher says. It’s understandable when she is trying to learn the Spanish, but she does it when her teacher is speaking English as well. She also corrects her teachers English and tells her if she doesn’t think she is saying something right. She is a stinker! We never had bad reports given to us by our boys’ teachers, but Joelle walks to the beat of a different drum.

Joelle generally loves being in Mexico, but one day when she was really cranky whatever I said her response was, “I want to go back to Indiana!” I couldn’t reason with her until she woke up the next morning.

Edan (6 years old)

Edan is not like Joelle and doesn’t go around trying to speak in Spanish all day, but occasionally he will say something in Spanish and you will realize he is starting to understand.

Edan’s taste buds are slowly beginning to adjust, he likes candy with chili, mango, beans, tamales and a few other things. He was already some what picky in the US so I didn’t expect miracles here.

Edan likes school and has a lot of friends. He is playing basketball at the school and really enjoys that. He is reading like crazy now! He doesn’t really have the discipline problems that Joelle has in the classroom. The one thing that is still tough on him he says is that “we can’t speak Spanish”. But occasionally he will speak up and you might hear him say,“Como estas? Bien Y tu?” (How are you? Good and You?) and he has learned how to ask the other kids if he can play with them at recess. (The most important phrase to learn for a 6 year old!)

Edan has also solved the mystery of the “Tooth Fairy” verse “El Ratoncito”. The secret is now out…it’s a mouse! A couple of nights ago David lost his tooth and Edan said he saw a light gray mouse leaving after he left the money. But the silly mouse forgot the tooth. Oops!

David (7 years old)

David learned right away if you play soccer in Mexico you have friends. Everyday for recess that is what he does, play soccer! He also really likes that they have a basketball team at the school that he is on and he is old enough to go play other schools.

I asked David what he misses about the US and he said, “I don’t know what I miss?” Things are becoming normal to him. He feels like almost everything feels normal to him right now except the language and some of the food. But he like Tamales and tacos as long as they are without peppers and onions. He goes to Special Spanish everyday with basically a tutor and him, sometimes another student is with him. David and I (Joy) play against each other and see who can get his Spanish vocabulary the quickest. He usually wins on his older words and I beat him on the newer ones. He has helped me out on a few occasions when I am trying to come up with a Spanish word to say in public. (But I still know more than him and I am trying hard to not let him pass me!)

As for me and Brian

We have our up and down moments. Even today I actually called, in Spanish, the gas company and also got up on the roof to try and fix our water. After about an hour waiting for the gas company I started getting really discouraged that I wasn’t understood on the phone and they weren’t coming. I was also having problems getting the water to work. (Which it’s still not the greatest.) After about five minutes of doubt the door bell rang and the gas people showed up. I’m not completely incompetent! I was encouraged once again. The encouragement didn’t last long as I was discouraged because I could get the cold water to work, but not the warm water. That is an example of the up and down’s of adjusting to a new country. Sometimes you feel progress and success, then the next minute feelings of failure and discouragement. Preferably, Brian and I are not both down at the same time.

What do you do?

We have been experiencing one of those situations where in the states handling it would be easy, but here is much more difficult. Our neighbors across the street have 4, luckily little dogs, that are very aggressive when let out. They do not put them on leashes and let them run freely through the cotto. The problem we have is that they are overly agressive with our children. They run right at them, surround them and begin barking. One even bit joy on the ankle 2 weeks ago. In the states, you would try to handle this in a civil manner. You would go over and talk to the neighbor and express your concern. Regretfully, our language skills, while growing, are not at the level where you could express yourself in a very respectful, loving, converstaional tone as you would need in this delicate situation. We speak in sentences still, not conversations. Of course, we could possibly get a bilingual neighbor, but then you create a hostile, multi-neighbor situation. We want to be sensitive.

Then this morning, Joelle was out petting our other neighbors 14 year old, floppy eared beagle, who adores children. While she is out doing this I hear the lady across the street let out their dogs. You always know as you can hear the annoying cacophany of yapping. Then the door bolts open and Edan has run in to escape them. Joelle is not so fortunate. I hear a hysterical scream, I run outside and Joelle is surrounded by several dogs yapping at her. I pick her up and begin to leave. At the same time, the neighbor across the street heard the scream and comes out to get her dogs. Do to my anger at that point, I just give her a look of frustration. This is not the first time this has happened. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a pretty intense look of frustration. No doubt my point is not lost on my neighbor.

I walk in and I immediately feel horrible. What do you do? On one hand, you have a little girl who keeps getting terrified by these horrible little rats, but on the other, I am hear to be a witness. I can only imagine the witness my glare conveyed. I am convinced one of these days that I am going to have to kick one of these rodents as they nip at Joelle which will only exasperate the situation. As a dad and witness, you are torn between the intense desire to defend your little girl when she is horrified and the knowledge that the truth of the kingdom of God is so much greater then the headaches of little dogs. At least it is for me, for Joelle I doubt this is so. Throw in the inability to have a real adult conversation and you have a constant tension as this issue has to be dealt with several times a week. What do you do?