Brrr...

Do all things without complaining... Philippians 2:14


As all my Northern Hemisphere friends sweat through summer, here’s a little post to cool you off…

We’re in the depths of winter right now in Cochabamba, a winter that is predicted to last longer than usual.

Now some, like friends currently visiting Cochabamba from Iowa, might laugh, but I’m Texan through and through. Any temperature below 70 degrees F is chilly to me, much less that we don't really dress properly for winter and there's no heating here. During Bolivian winters (approximately May - August) I relish the delicious sun that warms us up by afternoon, usually to the 80s...as long as you're not in the shade! Due to the "hard construction" style here, you can shiver inside all day long.

But I have to say that this time around, my 7th winter in Bolivia, I’ve seen the season in a whole new light, thanks to my street friends. I've been awed how they never complain about the cold! Just now, as temperatures hover right at freezing all night, two or three have finally made little comments. And it’s not even in a complaining sort of way, but rather just making a statement. Yesterday I realized that my best friend in the most hardcore, feared street group had slept up on their breezy hill in shorts and a t-shirt. With one blanket. And that he had a horrible hacking cough. And yet he simply said “It’s a little cold right now, isn’t it senorita? I think I’m getting a cough”, as if he was surprised.

When I wake up early shivering and see that it’s 50 something degrees in my room, by far the coldest in our large house, my first thought in years past was something along the lines of “woe is me, winter with no central heating”. This year my first thoughts are oh dear, it’s at least 20 degrees colder where all my friends are sleeping. By rivers. Under bridges. In doorways. On concrete courts. On a breezy hill.

But I'm learning something. By not verbally protesting about the cold (and normally I’m very grumbly about it), it really, honestly, is not bothering me much.

The street kids, driving home a Biblical principle—I love it!!

So just as I’m getting proud of this fact, that either I’m toughening up or God is giving me special grace this year, as I’m usually out till midnight on the street…..we lose water.

Let me explain. For the past couple weeks, I’ve heard different people mention not having water in their houses, and the street kids have had to haul water out of the river for a while now to wash cars up at their intersection. I wasn’t paying much attention until this week at the Baby Home, we’ve had irregular water supply. This morning I woke up, and even though they were supposed to send water today, we’ve run our tank dry over the course of the week washing out diapers and cooking and such……and I needed to wash my hair. Preparing for the possibility of no water, I had brought in the bottle of water from my car that the street kids use. Only that any water left in my room overnight is more or less the temperature of melted ice cubes by morning. And my bathroom isn’t any warmer! As I quickly took an icy cold "bath", I had to wonder if God was grinning. (Really, honestly, I wasn’t going to complain about the cold this year, but now THIS Lord?!)

Let’s just say I’ve repented on being so grateful for a very light rainy season earlier this year! And they say the water shortage will endure till the next rainy season kicks in, approximately December. Let it rain!!


I actually have good reasons for not posting till now, including the trauma of burying a baby on the street last week who was supposed to arrive to our (relatively warmer) Baby Home possibly the same day. She was just two months old and died from a complication of illness and the harsh temperatures. Until I have time for a proper post, here's a new post on the volunteer blog that you might enjoy!