No words needed....

Updates, Updates, Updates

For some of out Spanish learning and cultural development, we went to the Basilica and other parts of Quito to learn more about the place we are living and its history! We had the unique opportunity to climb the Basilica, yes climb it, to the Belfry and BEYOND! We admit, but was scary, but there was a beautiful view and it was well worth it. When you come visit us, we will take you there! Here are some other updates from the last month!

Beautiful!

At the top of the Basilica. We were smiling, but we were kind of scared! It's REALLY high!

The Sunday we were in Guayaquil, Cheryll and Moises's church had a Sunday School program. The kids were SO cute!

Moises with a HUGE Iguana. Simeon wasn't too sure about it!

Cute feet!

Simeon had his first experience in the ocean. He started out smiling, but didn't like the splashing too much!

Our apologies for the lack of posting on this blog. Between facebook and our other blog, I think this one gets neglected. Who knows if people read it, but we should be posting nonetheless. Over the last month, we have had some good experiences. We visited Guayaquil (the largest city in Ecuador). We visited our fellow (long-term) missionary and her husband (Cheryll and Moises). They were wonderful hosts to us and it was great to see a different party of the country and ministries there. One of the other short-termers, Josh went with us.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SPANISH LEARNING!

We have been a bit discouraged in this area recently and covet your prayers to continue our learning and become more proficient!

Meeting Tonight

Tonight we had leadership from IPEE (the Covenant Church of Ecuador) as well as friends from Covenant World Mission headquarters in Chicago plus our missionary team (minus one from the Coast). It was a great time of prayer, dreaming and great communication for the future of the ministry in Ecuador. It is such an exciting time to be here and we feel God is really moving! We are very grateful and blessed to be a part of it!

Videos of Simeon

Here is a video of Simeon's first spoon feeding with rice cereal! HE LIKES IT, HE LIKES IT!

First Trip to the AMAZON

On THursday and Friday of last week, we were asked by our Spanish teacher Olgita and her husband Henry to go with them to visit Henry's mother. We of course said yes! Henry's mother lives in a town in the Amazon called El Chaco. Don't worry, we didn't stay in huts, we actually stayed in a hotel and Henry's mom made every meal from her restuarant! We were spoiled for sure. We also visited a Covenant Church in Lumbaqui, a town 2 hours from El Chaco, east and slightly north. A U.S. team will be working there in a couple weeks so our fellow missionary Chris went to 'scope' it out. Also along on the trip were Olgita's brother (our babysitter during Spanish lessons) Ricardo and a new U.S. friend from North Park Michelle. It was a great trip and Simeon as well as Joel and I got to experience many new things.


The Family Delp








This is a river that leads to the Napo river which empties into the Amazon. Henry has baptized people here so it has special meaning to him.

This is a lake close to Baeza. They have never been able to find the bottom of it! Luckily we didn't try either!

Simeon, Ricardo (our babysitter), Michelle, Caleb, Henry and Olgita.

This is an amazing waterfall close to El Chaco. We didn't even get in the water, but still got drenched just getting close. The survivors are Ricardo, Michelle, Lis, Kim, Joel and Henry, Chris is taking the picture, but he didn't venture close.

Cotopaxi Volcano-A little closer picture than from our window

Aloha...

Our newest picture of Simeon!


When I began to think about this post and what I was going to say, what kept coming back to me was the word 'Aloha'. You may be thinking "wow, she really has her languages confused, I thought you were learning Spanish." Well, we are going to be learning Spanish, but it seemed to me like this word really captured where my heart is right now. It's amazing how a word can mean so much, at least my understanding of the word. I always thought Aloha meant "hello" and "goodbye" in Hawaiin. Well, when I researched it, I found out it means a lot more. So, for those Hawaiin language and culture buffs out there, my apologies for not using it in it's proper terminology, but as I said it seems to fit what I am feeling right now.


The word 'goodbye' to me is such a final word. One of those words you say to people when you know you will never see them again. I certainly don't intend on never seeing most of you again, but it is hard to know you don't know when you will see people again. It's hard to transition your mind from knowing you can see people in a few minutes or hours to now needing a day or so to see them.



That is where Aloha comes in. My mindset where I am now (most minutes of the day anyway) is filled with sadness and excitement, a feeling that things are bittersweet. We are leaving our families, friends, dogs, and all that is familiar. The tears when saying goodbye are gut-wrenching and knowing we will leave all that is familiar to a new place that is not familiar is a bit scary. The adventurous part of me however is excited about not knowing what is in store, meeting new people, learning a new culture and language and being in the place where God has called us for this time. There are scary and anxious times too. I found myself today looking at all that is familiar and realizing this time next week, I will be in brand new surroundings-in every sense of the word. As Aloha means hello and goodbye, that is where I am. I am saying goodbye to life here in the U.S. and that is difficult, but I am saying hello to new adventure and being in the place God has called us to. This is exciting and an adventure.


We covet, COVET your prayers during this time of transition. The emotional one of the family (ME!) is not having an easy time with goodbyes. Pray for us as we pray for you.




These pictures are from our last Sunday at our home church, Northwest Covenant. They had a 'sending' prayer time for us, praying for each of the 3 of us specificually. We love our church and will miss our friends there.


Aloha U.S., Aloha Ecuador.

Another picture update

It has been a while since we have updated. Just thought I would do so in pictures first...
Here are some from April and May. Simeon was dedicated at our church in April. The rest are just misc. ENJOY!

The Power of a Hymn

On Sunday of last week, Joel and I had the opportunity to speak at my parents church in Hartford City, IN @ Trinity UM Church. It was a wonderful time with people who I know have prayed for us over the years. During the service, we sang the song Because He Lives. This hymn has always had significance in that it shows the power of the resurrection and was written by Bill and Gloria Gaither and their son. However, on Sunday, this song had new significance. The second verse says:

How sweet to hold a newborn baby, and feel the pride

and joy He gives; but greater still the calm assurance,

this child can face uncertain days because He lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives,

all fear is gone. Because I know, I know He holds the future.

And life is worth the living just because He lives.

HOW powerful to know that no matter WHAT happens, we CAN face tomorrow. What a blessing to know that our baby can face ANYTHING because Christ is in control and because Jesus died for ALL of us! AMEN!

Catch-Up in pictures over the last 3 weeks

We thought we would updated the blog to show you how Simeon has been growing over the last 3 weeks. It's amazing how quickly he changes. He has had visits from Grandma Carter, The O'Dell's and Grandma and Grandpa Delp, as well as many friends from church. We look forward to Easter where all the Grandparents will be here.
He is learning to sleep, not always when mom and dad want him to, but he is learning just the same.
Enjoy the pictures!

Simeon's Story

We need to share of God's goodness to us through the birth of our son Simeon. It is a pretty neat story!

Before beginning the story, we should explain that through Kim's experience and knowledge in the healthcare industry and with what we had learned in our birthing (read "modern day Lamaze") class, we had decided we would like to have as natural of a birth as possible. We had a Nurse Midwife instead of a doctor and were planning on doing as much as possible at home during labor before heading to the hospital. Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan.

To begin with, Kim had some early signs of preeclampsia (high blood pressure, swelling, and additional protein in the urine) heading into the delivery date. This caused a little bit of anxiety for us and our midwife heading into it.

Early on Simeon's due date, March 4th, at 3 a.m., Kim's water broke, but since she was not having major contractions, we decided to wait until 7:00 a.m. to paige our midwife. When we were able to get a hold of her, she told us to come on in to the hospital and get setup. Even though Kim's contractions were not advanced, with the preclampsia symptoms, she didn't want to take any chances.

So we headed in and by 9:30 a.m., Kim was all hooked up to the equipment and had a pitocin drip started to have the labor induced. The pitocin definitely worked as hard contractions quickly started and lasted for about 8 hours. At around 5:30 p.m., after going through a little over 8 hours of grueling contractions which resulted in a lot of sickness, we were seeing very little progress. Kim was only dilated 1 cm. We could see that this was going to be a long haul and decided that Kim could not do this forever, so we opted for the epidural.

The epidural was met with a lot of relief. Much comfort and rest resulted. In addition, the pitocin drip amount was increased and so the contractions were strengthened with no pain to mama. Kim was able to sleep pretty well while she labored. Unfortunately, not much progress was made with the delivery. By 7:00 a.m. on March 5th, Kim was only dialeted 3 cms and Simeon's head had hardly descended. Our midwife consulted with the doctor on call and they both felt the birth was not going to occur vaginally. Being folks with good common sense, we followed their advice and decided to go with a C-Section.

Simeon Carter Delp was born at 8:34 a.m. on March 5th via C-Section weighing 6 lbs 9 ozs and having a 19.25 inch length. Our first family picture is at the top.

Here is the kicker: during the C-Section, the doctor noted that umbilical cord was extremely short, as well as it was wrapped around Simeon's neck. In the end, the birth could not have occurred vaginally as every time he would try to descend, the cord would wrap around his neck and not allow the descent.

We are thankful to our risen Lord Jesus Christ and his provision of a healthy and well cared for birth our son and a healthy operation for mama. Both mom and son are doing well and recovering from the ordeal. Simeon has started nursing from mom.

We decided on the name Simeon because of the biblical reference in the Old Testament to the 2nd Tribe of Israel and in Luke 2 to the priest who was aware that Jesus Christ was the messiah. In Hebrew, Simeon means "obedient" and "listening". We really like this name!!!

You can see more pictures of Simeon on our Facebook pages. Thanks for reading!

Introducing Simeon Carter Delp

After a sucessful C-Section and at 8:34 a.m., Simeon Carter Delp arrived in this world as a healthy and happy 6lb 9 oz boy. Mom and baby are both doing well. We are going to be in Evanston hopsial for the next 4 days if anyone wants to visit.

Update

We thought we would update you all on what is going on. Not a whole lot has changed although our emotions are quite different than a couple days ago. We know that Patah is a dog and some may not understand loving an animal, but thinking that Patah may be sick with a tumor was really emotional for us. We were so relieved to find out that Patah did NOT have a tumor, but a hernia. Praise the Lord! She has had a relaxing day in bed sleeping on a pillow most of the day. She has lots of stitches but is just as sweet as ever, until you put the funnel around her head and then she doesn't like you much...actually she just looks up at you with big puppy eyes like "what are you doing to me?" Pictures to follow that...
As for Kim...still on bedrest. On Tuesday was an appointment and additionaly labs were drawn which we completely normal! That is all good. My midwife just wants to keep me out of the hospital as long as possible and would rather not induce me. My blood pressure was still elevated and I am still having headaches. Today I got a manicure and pedicure (a birthday gift from Joel) which was so nice and relaxing. Even with my swollen hands and feet, I feel pampered and not quite as large! We covet your prayers as the days wind down.

An update

I just thought I would update you all on what is going on in our lives in the last few days. I have been put on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy (only 2 more weeks or so). My blood pressure has slowly been rising over the last couple of weeks with swelling to my feet and legs as well as some protein in my urine (I know, TMI!). Anyway, these are all precursors to preeclampsia, so instead of taking any chances, my midwife is taking me off work and on bedrest (quite a jump). I can take a shower (thank the Lord Joel is saying) and I can do one outing a day, errands, lunch out, doctor's appointments etc. Otherwise I have to be in bed or on the couch. Not exactly easy for me, but I'm trying. I have an appointment with my midwife on Tuesday. They will do an ultrasound to check how big the baby is as well as the amniotic fluid. We are hoping the baby comes without having to be induced.

Additionally, our sweet white dog, Patah has to have surgery on Tuesday. She has had an abdominal 'bump' that has been getting bigger. We had it checked out today and the vet said it is either a tumor or a hernia. We are kind of worried for her. She hates vets and we just feel bad we can't be there with her until she goes under.

We hope you are all doing well. Blessing!

Read All About It!!!

We have just updated our Support Letter and you can read all about it here! We are getting closer and closer to getting to Ecuador with being 65% funded with 53% of our prayer support in. We are also closer to having our first child, but that's just the quick facts.

You can read all about it here: http://blogs.covchurch.org/delp

In the mind of a soon to be mother...

as you may well imagine is a very scattered place. I suppose that is how I am feeling...scattered. I know there are many, MANY things that need to be done, but most days I would rather not do them. My mind is also overwhelmed. To think of being responsible for every single need of another human being is overwhelming. To think of raising a child in the ways of Jesus and attempting to live that out every day is overwhelming. Believe me, I am not one of those people who thinks I am perfect, I know I will fail often, but it seems like failure is so much less of an option when raising children.

I admit, when you think you have 9 months to work through your emotions regarding becoming a parent, I thought I had plenty of time. I realize other things have gotten in the way and now is the time I am attempting to understand these emotions I have had the last 9 months.

The other overwhelming feelings of just not feeling ready are there often as well. We aren't really getting a nursery together, only because we will be here for such a short time before we move to Ecuador, but I am still trying to think of how to make a place.

I am not naive enough to think I am the only one who has ever felt this way as a soon to be mother. I see every day in my job people much less fortunate, much less prepared than I, but maybe that is because the standard of what I want to be as a parent is high.

I pray that I will not try to do all of this on my own. THAT is overwhelming, but I need to have the constant reminder that God is in control, I am not, and that HE needs to be my guide and my compass. I know this will not be easy, but I know God has given us this child and that is my comfort.

A musing from a mom to be...