Let’s just say, shall we, that I’m not always the best boyfriend in the world. I’m easily distracted. Sometimes I get caught up in whatever’s happening in the moment and I forget to call when I said I would. I have a tendency to forget important dates…

But today is Valentine’s Day and I baked my girlfriend cookies. Say what you will…and I’m sure you all will…but I’m proud of the accomplishment. They were only sugar cookies…and the icing leaves a bit to be desired… I think it’s lacking a bit of sugar. And somehow the icing turned out a bit brighter pink than I had planned. A lot “brighter pink” actually…in the range of fuschia. At least what I understand fuschia to be….

The funny thing was the timing of it. I did, in fact, have all afternoon to bake said cookies…but I chose not to. For reasons I’ll not get into, but that mostly involved laziness. I figured I’d come back from the home in lots of time to whip something up. Of course I got back late but decided to do it anyhow. And then half way through the process realized we had no flour. Kind of important that. So at 10:30 PM I was driving around looking for a store that was still open that sold flour. This isn’t Canada…there aren’t exactly late night supermarkets open (at least where I live). Eventually I found some…after a very funny conversation with three ladies in the store where I tried to describe what I was looking for…

“You know…white stuff that you use to make bread. It’s very common!”

“Uh…milk?”

“No no…it’s not liquid. But it’s…white…”

“Salt?”

“SALT? Come on…” Okay…I didn’t say that last part, but I was thinking it. How could you pick salt over flour when you’re talking about making bread? Seriously.

Eventually someone guessed flour and we were good to go. I knew the word for flour, but I had a bit of a brain freeze in the moment. It happens to me a lot. I speak amazing Spanish when I’m laying in bed at night practicing in my head. Reality is a bit more of a challenge some days.

Anyhow…long story short (more or less) I managed to go to bed at around 2:30 AM. But my girlfriend has sugar cookies for Valentine’s Day and that’s what counts. Of course, lots of times Bolivians don’t like North American desserts very much. So…I may end up eating them myself. But I think I can live with that possibility…

It’s been a busy week. As I said, our two guys who were in the military this past year, are home now. So I’ve been meeting with them about what’s going to happen now with the new place. Plus I guess a lot of other things just seemed to come up during the week. But it was all good. And the really great news is that all three of the guys who took the exam to enter university, passed. That’s amazing news. Last year there was only about a 40% pass rate. So we celebrated at the home with a special supper. I was proud of the guys. They worked hard.

The search for a house continues. Thanks for praying with me about this. I know God has a plan, but it’s difficult some days to have patience. I know the guys are anxious too. So please continue to pray about that. Not just that we find a place, but also that we’ll be able to trust God and be at peace through the process.

I also have to help Julio Cesar find a room to rent for this year. I talked to my friend Corina today about how to do that. It’s a bit…complicated shall we say. First we go to the school where he wants to study. Then we find a bus that passes nearby and follow it out past the fourth ring (where places will be cheaper) and find a neighborhood that seems promising. Then we just walk around until we find a place that has a notice on their front gate that they want to rent a room. It seems a little…random to me. But…that’s how it works here. Some prayer about this would be appreciated as well.

That about covers it I guess. Please continue praying for the guys who live with me as well. The one guy, especially, is dealing with some fairly intense things and could use your prayers. Also, if you could please pray for my relationships with the staff at the home. I have a meeting with the social workers tomorrow (Friday) afternoon that might not be completely pleasant. I definitely need wisdom and patience…

On a final and completely random note…hopefully on Sunday I’ll be off to the final game in a local soccer tournament we’ve been having here in Bolivia. You can read about my first soccer game experience HERE.  My team made it to this last game…so here’s hoping! My girlfriend does NOT feel the same. Her team got bounced a couple of weeks ago. So sad really… =) I’ll write more about that game tomorrow if you’re interested. It was one of the funnier moments I’ve had here. Let’s just say it involved police barricades…sitting in the opposing teams stands…cheerleaders who didn’t do much cheering…but no one seemed to care…and my gringo butt hanging out of a bus and me thinking that my final moments had finally arrived…

So stay tuned.

Thanks for praying everyone!