Does God care about the little things in life? Should we bother him with the little things like losing keys? Is it too much to ask that He use us to bless other people? As Christians we believe that God ordains all that comes to pass and we believe He cares for us. I want to introduce you to an amazing little book that reminds us of how God works even amidst the minutia of life. It is called No Ordinary Days and was written by long time MTW missionary Dianne Smalling. In it she shares story after story from her years in ministry of expecting God to be at work in her life and through her life. Some stories seem amazing. Other stories seem ordinary. But this is not a book of how amazing the author is or how different the missionary life is from regular life. Instead, she highlights how ordinary people can anticipate God at work through the ordinary events of daily life. As I was reading it I was reminded of how I have seen God at work in my own life. Even just in the time we’ve been here, I would have similar stories to tell. But I was also reminded of how often I overlook God’s hand at work in my day to day life. Opportunities are lost. Gifts go by unnoticed, or are noticed briefly and forgotten. Continue reading No Ordinary Days
All posts by Michele Call
A New Baby and a New Intern
I have a couple pieces of happy news to deliver. First, we have a new baby on the way! If all is healthy with this tiny, developing life he or she should make an entrance sometime in April. As always, the children are very excited. Several of them have been praying for a new sibling. I am privileged to be carrying this little human being as he gets his start in life. Continue reading A New Baby and a New Intern
Doing the Laundry and Learning a New Way of Life
When our family first moved to St. Louis, Missouri from California in 2001 there were several new things we had to learn and experience. The one that stands out the most to me were the tornadoes. We had heard that air raid sirens would sound when a tornado may be coming, and that that was a signal to get to the safety of the basement. I asked as many questions as I could so to prepare for when it happened. I remember clearly the first time the sirens went off. Continue reading Doing the Laundry and Learning a New Way of Life
Top 10 Favorite Things About Uruguay
When we boarded the plane to come to Uruguay from Florida in October of this year, I had never actually even visited the country we were intending to make our home. Sure, I did plenty of research–talking to other missionaries, talking to my husband (who had spent all of a week here), and of course getting all manner of opinions from a variety of ex-pats on the internet. So all this to say, Uruguay was very new for me. And there were a lot of surprises–some good, some bad. But I thought it would be fun to come up with ten things I love about Uruguay. Having only been here 6 months, everything is new enough for me that I am not yet taking it for granted and would love to share the best about my new home. Continue reading Top 10 Favorite Things About Uruguay
Settling In
After 4.5 months in Uruguay, we were blessed this week to receive our belongings from the US. It was a happy, if somewhat chaotic reunion! To give a little history, when we left San Diego in January 2014 we chose to send a small quantity of our things (a container that is 7 feet by 7 feet by 4 feet, and another about half that size) by boat to Uruguay. We researched and considered either shipping all of our things, shipping nothing, or compromising with a small amount, which is what we chose. We heard horror stories of missionaries having a terrible time getting their things out of customs, but, knowing that manufactured goods are very expensive in Uruguay, we decided to go ahead and take the risk. Continue reading Settling In
Our Missionary Kids
How are your children adjusting to their new life in Uruguay?
This is probably the most common question I hear from our friends and support team back home. And for good reason. We have children of pretty much every age category under our roof, and anyone who has ever moved with children knows that moving is every bit as momentous and stressful for a child as it is for an adult. Continue reading Our Missionary Kids
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Beach
It was our last day borrowing our teammate’s car. They were about to return from their vacation, and then it would be back to taking the bus. So, we decided that we needed to have an afternoon at the beach while there was still an easy way to get there. It came at the perfect time. Our family was feeling pretty tired…but not because we had been accomplishing so much. But more because we had been learning so much. Much of living in a new culture is about the inefficiency of life and how much language and culture we learn while trying to get things done—the things don’t get done very quickly but we tell ourselves that is okay because we are learning a lot anyway. But learning is tiring. And inefficiency is tiring. Continue reading A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Beach
Shopping for Food
One thing that has been very different in our South American home is shopping for food. It has been different, and honestly, fun. First of all, we don’t have a vehicle. That has made a big impact in what shopping for a family of nine looks like. I never before in my life gave a thought to how heavy food is, until I had to carry it all home. Now, thinking about the weight of my purchases is part of the daily routine. Another daily feature of life is whether we have small cash on hand. Our bank gives us money only in bills of 1000 pesos (about $45 US dollars). This is too much for all but the largest stores to accept, making it a constant battle to keep small enough bills on hand, for shopping or taking buses and taxis. Continue reading Shopping for Food
Old Traditions, New Traditions and the Worship of God Incarnate
Though the Christmas season in the U.S. has come to an end, here in Uruguay we have at least one more day until it passes. Tomorrow is the Day of the Kings, a holiday where the gift giving surpasses even that of Christmas in much of Latin America. It refers to the Magi who visited Jesus and gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. As the season comes to an end and we look back over the past couple of weeks, we thank God for the blessing of having celebrated our first Christmas here in Uruguay. We had been in our new house a little over a week when the special day arrived. Continue reading Old Traditions, New Traditions and the Worship of God Incarnate
A Day in Our Life
“I’m sorry, you can only register one of your documents today,” the woman behind the counter told Ray. He stood there with all 10 of the documents (9 birth certificates and a marriage certificate) that need to be registered before we can begin the process of getting our visa to live in Uruguay. Although he wasn’t clear why only one document, he dutifully filled out the form and paid the fee and then returned home. Continue reading A Day in Our Life