LITTLE MOMMY!

Many have asked how Susana is doing with the transition of having a baby brother. Today, Abner and I took time to thank the Lord that she has done great! She loves her baby brother and would kiss him all day if we would let her. We are trying to teach her that when he is sleeping that's not the best time to kiss him, nor are his eyeballs the best place to kiss him, but other than this she loves Abner Daniel. As soon as she sees him, she puckers up her lips to tell us to lower him to her level in order for her to smooch all over him. It has been fun watching Susana learn lots about being a mommy and her trying to imitate everything that I do with Abner Daniel with her baby. She now burps her baby, wraps him in a blanket, nurses him, etc. She even sings to him, which is just so sweet. The first time that Susana saw me nurse her baby brother she kind of freaked out and Abner had to take her out of the room, but since then she has become very knowledgeable in the whole nursing experience and tries to imitate all she sees. We have been blessed with this little mommy, who loves her baby brother and her baby.

MY BIRTHDAY!

Well, I officially turned 31, as of December 15th. I had to laugh after getting a card in the mail at the end of November, and wondering why I was getting that card. I thought that maybe it was a Thanksgiving card, then I thought maybe a card for the baby, then my next thought was that it was an early Christmas card, nope, none of the above. It was a birthday card and my birthday was the furthest thing from my mind at that time. Now, the day has come and gone, and I don't feel a day older. I do need to take a moment though and share what a great day it was, mainly because I have a great husband. Abner is awesome when it comes to making me feel special every day of the year, and this day was no different. Him and Susana came in bright and early and started the day off with serenating me with Happy Birthday. We ate breakfast and then journeyed out to the mall to buy some perfume and sunglasses. This was Abner Daniel's first trip to the mall and he did great. We then went to Pizza Hut for lunch, took some naps in the afternoon, and celebrated an anniversary with some friends in the evening. It was a blessd day and I thank the Lord for yet another year of life. He truly has poured out His blessings this year. Thanks to all who sent birthday greetings, you helped make the day special.

SHE´S WITH ME…

The other day while we were still at my sister-in-laws house, we were all hanging out as a family, the four of us in the bedroom that we were staying in when Abner went to make a phone call. Susana hasn’t left daddy out of her sight for long after being gone for two weeks, so of course she had to go and follow him. At my in-laws house, we were on the second floor of their house, and it made me nervous to have Susana near the stairs, so I yelled out to Abner to make sure he could see her. His response was, “she’s with me.” There was something about the way that he said these three little words that took me to the day that we will stand before the Lord. Something that made me realize that come that day of judgment it is Christ Jesus that will be the one to say, “she’s with me.” I praise the Lord for His salvation and grace.

PERFECT TIMING!

Back in September, the Lord began planning a trip where Abner and his whole family would travel to Argentina in November. Abner and I prayed about his going, knowing that the dates that he was going to be gone were very close to my delivery date. Feeling that this trip was from the Lord, we booked the ticket with Abner returning on November 27th, while the rest of his family returned on the 30th.
The same day that Abner arrived my sister-in-law, Gina, who is also my gynecologist, checked me to see if I had started to dilate, and to my surprise I was at 3cm, but without any pain, so Gina and I were thinking that the baby would come Wednesday night or Thursday. I just wanted one day with Abner after him being gone for two weeks.
Susana and I went to the airport at 8:00, and anxiously awaited daddy’s arrival. I could feel that the baby had dropped and there was that same pressure pushing downward that I remembered before giving birth the first time, but didn’t think much about it. Susana was all smiles when she saw Abner walk through the door, and on the car ride home kept rubbing his arm. Too cute! Upon arriving, Abner mentioned that he had barely slept the night before and I was like, o.k. Lord, not tonight.
After getting back to Jorge Mario and Gina’s house, where we were staying, we all went to bed tranquilos, calmly not expecting a baby to be born. Around 3:00 a.m., Susana woke up and we stuck her in bed with us. I had started having contractions before this, but still wasn’t sure if they were the real ones, or just more Braxton-hicks. With Susana squirming around next to me, I decided that the floor was more comfortable. Around 3:30 a.m., I had diarrhea, which was the first real thought that I could really be in labor. While in the bathroom, I confessed to the Lord that I didn’t know if I could really go through the whole 2 ½ hours of hard labor that I had went through with Susana, and simply asked that He would give me His strength and endurance.
Once leaving the bathroom, I went back to the floor and Abner came over to see how I was doing, I told him, “I think that we are having this baby tonight.” He told me that he was going to go and get Gina, but I asked him to wait until the contractions where closer together. Reminding me that she needed to get everything prepared, he went to get her. When Gina came in all she said was, “Kelley Marie, Kelley Marie.” After checking me once again and finding that I was at 8 cm. which was music to my ears, Gina’s famous words in both births, “Don’t push!” As Gina and Abner were preparing the room for labor, the contractions continued. Once the room was ready Gina told me to lie down and by that time I was free to push with each contraction. After three good pushes, Abner Daniel Arévalo Hofmaster made his way out and into our arms at 4:30 a.m., weighing 8lbs. and measuring 50 cm.(19 ¾ inches).
This truly was a blessed birth and we are blessed to have this little guy with us. The Lord answered so many prayers two of the big ones were that Abner would make it back in time and that Susana would be asleep during the birth. God answered these prayers and continues to reveal His faithfulness to us daily. Abner Daniel is a good baby, very peaceful! Susana is loving being a big sister and just can’t kiss him enough throughout the day. Abner is a GREAT husband and daddy and it is so good to have him home.

GOTTA LOVE LITTLE GIRLS!!

Susana is a ball of laughs. Just look at this face. Thanks aunt Leigh for all the clothes. I love trying them all on, this day it was the swimsuits, the day before this it was the pants. I am such a little girl!

SPECIAL PRAYER REQUEST...

The Lord has provided the opportunity for Abner, along with his parents, and 5 siblings to travel to Argentina November 14-27th. Please pray for this trip and also for Kelley, Susana, and the baby as Abner is gone. Abner Daniel is due December 9th, we are trusting that he stays in there until Abner is back.

ANOTHER ANSWER TO PRAYER!!!

A HUGE blessing and answer to prayer. We have been asking for prayer for a truck for quite some time now. As we looked back at old newsletters, this prayer request actually started even before moving to La Ceiba in February 2005. In August 2006, the Lord asked us to give our car away, and to simply thank Him for the vehicle that He would provide in His timing. Shortly after the Lord asked us for our car, He spoke through a brother in Christ that it would be through three people/parties who were going to provide the vehicle that the Lord had for us. Well, the Lord touched a friends heart in the U.S. to begin asking about our need for the truck and a month later the truck is in our hands, through three different parties. We have truly seen the faithfulness of the Lord and the law of sowing and reaping. When we sow apples, apples is what we receive back…when you sow a vehicle a vehicle is what you reap. God is so perfect in all that He does. When we went to buy the truck, it was more than what we had in our budget. We shared with the owner of the dealer the amount that we had and that we couldn’t add to the Lord´s blessing. The owner of the dealer is a pastor also and told us that he wouldn’t stand in the way of the Lord and for us to take the truck for the amount that we had. We found out later that the name of the car dealer means, ¨valley of blessings.¨ The owner prayed for us before leaving and spoke words of life into our spirits. Three things the Lord asked us to pray for: our children, a house, and a vehicle…three things HE has provided. God is so good!

We are having a BOY!!!

To all those who don’t know yet, we are having a boy. Abner Daniel Arevalo is expected to arrive some time around December 7th or the 9th, depending what doctor you ask. J We are getting excited to hold this little guy. Praise the Lord the pregnancy has been yet another blessed pregnancy. Susana gives lots of kisses to her baby brother Abner, we are praying that she will be just as loving once he’s out of the womb.

Susana Elizabeth…15 ½ months.

What a joy this little girl is! We are having so much watching Susana’s personality blossom. She is quite the silly little girl. At this stage some of her favorite things are her baby, playing in the water, which she says “agua”, watching her Praise Baby videos and Baby Signing time, and she loves watching daddy and mommy “getting the mosquitoes.” She is really doing well with the baby signs, she can sign milk, baby, doggy, eat, juice, mommy, banana, more, cracker, etc. She still loves us reading to her as well, but she has actually started now reading to us. She can jabber pretty well. Her favorite word to say are daddy, doggy, agua, ball, baby, mama, amen, and tries to repeat just about whatever you ask her too. She’s a blessing

TRUSTING MY HUSBAND.

Sometimes as a woman, the Lord calls us to trust our husband’s even when we don’t feel like it’s the right thing, and when we do, we glorify Him.

Without having the internet or the television, we had no idea that there was a hurricane predicted to be hit Honduras and was supposedly heading straight towards us. My mom was the first to call to notify us, then Abner’s brother, then my mom again. Their advice was to go further inland, but after hearing their advice, Abner sought the Lord and he felt that the Lord wanted us to stay in our house. Psalms16 became a confirmation for Abner that the Lord would keep us safe. As Abner was in prayer seeking the Lord about all of this, I had my mind set that we would go back to the old house, which we are still renting for the use of the church, and wait for the hurricane to pass. As we all came together for breakfast that morning, Abner told me that He felt we were to stay. My heart immediately lost it’s peace. I have never wrestled with trusting the Lord through Abner’s decisions before, but this time was hard. As I was questioning Abner about how he felt that the Lord had led him to his decision, the Lord brought to mind the example of Lot’s wife as they were leaving Sodom and Gomorrah. Instead of keeping her eyes forward, “to follow her husband” she looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. I knew at that moment that I needed to trust my husband. All day the enemy kept trying to steal my peace about staying, but returning to Psalm 16, the Lord would bring peace. The night that the hurricane was supposed to hit, Abner, Susana, and I all rested sooo peacefully. I didn’t wake up once. The next morning the hurricane hovered over Nicaragua and never entered Honduras as a hurricane. We praise the Lord for His protection, and I praise the Lord for a husband who seeks the Lord’s face and is willing to stay put when the Lord asks him too. Thanks to all who were praying for us during that time.

*May I continue to trust my husband, as our daughter does, as he leads our family according to the Lord´s will.

A TIME OF TRANSITION.

Well, it feels like it’s been a VERY long time since we have been in contact with people outside Honduras. We moved into our new house on

August 24th and haven’t had internet, nor cable, nor the house phone since. The Lord knows that being with internet is a test for me, but praise the Lord He has kept my attitude right before Him during this time. Our move went smoothly, we only lost mirror in the process. We have pretty much unpacked all that we can at this point, and Abner has become quite the handy-man around the house. He’s been drilling to hang the curtains up, the closet, and getting pictures on the wall. He was even outside with a machete cutting the little grass that we have. I love my husband! It’s a great joy living this life’s adventure with him.

Susana has done great with the move as well. When we were taking all the things out of the house, her and I had to go to the neighbors, because she became very anxious and clingy, but once she saw all her things coming off the truck again, she was happy. I think that she misses the dogs next door that we had at the old house, but they have been replaced by the “silly cows” that come and visit almost daily. These cows are one of the reasons we are praying fervently for a fence/wall to be built around our house ASAP. She will miss seeing the up close and personally, but I won’t. J

As for me, this move I know was from the Lord. He has provided us with our first house/home and we feel blessed. The first couple days I have to admit, I did shed some tears, but the Lord has been faithful. Our biggest transition being here has been the transportation issue. Taxis don’t pass as often, and there are only two buses that run this sector, so we grab which ever passes first. Abner and I started reading the “Purposes Driven Life” together and in the 5th lesson it talks about how sometimes the Lord “delays” the answer to prayer as a way of testing us as His children. We know that God has a vehicle for us, and in His timing we will see it. We walk by faith and not by sight.

He are a few pictures of the house.

God´s faithfulness...August 1st.

After arriving in La Ceiba at the end of February 2005, the Lord had spoken to us that we were suppose to walk the beach two days a month, for three months, before I trip that we had planned. That November we were planning on going to the U.S. to visit my family, so we took August, September, and October to go to the beach and pray. When the Lord had spoken of this time praying at the beach, there were three things specifically that we were to pray for. One, our children, two a house, and three a vehicle. I don´t remember exactly the order, but these were the three specific things. At that time, we didn´t have children, we had a car, and were renting a house. Little did we know then, that I would get pregnant with Susana that same September that we walked the beach praying for our children. The following July, Abner and I were attending a conference when the Lord asked us to give up the car that we had. It was August 1st when we gave the car away. Exactly a year later, August 1st, the Lord allowed us to sign the papers at the bank, closing on our first house. The Lord has been so faithful in blessing us we our daughter, Susana, and now a new house (which prayerfully we will move into at the end of the month). We keep waiting and trusting in His perfect timing for the vehicle that He has for us. I am praying that by the time baby Arevalo is here in December, we´ll be able to show you the third answer to our prayers as we walked the beach almost two years ago. God you are good and do all things perfectly!

Why am I doing this??

This question is kind of to myself, but I thought that I would share at the same time. Some of my friends have started blogging or have become a little addicted to the whole, "my space", (no names mentioned) and thus far I have mananged to stay out of the whole loop of all of this. So, why do I start now? Good question! I know that the Lord has placed in my heart a desire and a gift to express His goodness and His faithfulness through writing. For some time now, I feel as though this gift has been dormate. God's word says to 'stir up the gifts' that He has given us, and I think that for this reason I begin this blog. God is constantly teaching us new things daily and this will just be a way to share of His faithfulness in our lives. May He be glorified!