In case you haven't noticed, I post book reviews at the link in the above menu. This has been a hobby for some time that I really enjoy, as books are sort of important in Casa Hagerman. Today, on the book review blog, I shared about a new way I've found of making my time with the Lord come alive. Rather than make you click over there, I'll make it easy and post it right here. Have a great weekend, friends! BOOK DESCRIPTION: The ESV Journaling Bible provides the perfect way for you to keep a journal of your spiritual life right inside the Bible that you read and study every day. With covers and formats that look like the finest journals, the Journaling Bible features two-inch ruled margins for writing observations, reflections, prayers, praises, and journal entries. This unique Bible...

There hasn't been a blog post in a while, but we have actually been spending the last few months in the United States, after quite a scare with the health of one of our parents. It turned out to be good timing (if things like this can have good timing), in that the lease on the storefront where we host The Bridge and also our apartment were coming up. So two of us left as soon as possible while the other two stayed behind to finish packing our personal stuff and all the contents of The Bridge, move it into a couple different storage facilities (spare rooms at friends' houses), and take the next flight out. We spent this "furlough" differently than the ones we'd had in the past. Instead of running from church to church several times a week and trying to replenish our stock of socks and underwear...

Last night I had the great honor of being part of a beautiful ceremony, one that marked new beginnings and testified of healing and the power of love. photo by Fatima Garcia A few years ago, I told you of my friend and fellow missionary, Julie Kurrle, who, along with her son, went to be with the Lord in a tragic car accident. Her husband and the sweet little toddler they were in the last stages of adopting survived, and many of you have asked me over the years how they're doing. I want to share some of their story with you now, with his permission. When I first "met" Julie, it was through the internet, and we communicated back and forth about what I should expect when our family made the move to Paraguay. She was a source of inspiration and encouragement, and when our families finally...

We have found The Bridge to be the perfect spot for small get-togethers with a purpose.  On Valentines Day, the teen girls of the Sweet Tea mentoring group gathered again to finish our study on Redefining Beauty according to God's standard.  These precious gals listened, took notes, asked questions, and went home with some print-outs to hang near their mirrors. They even graciously sat through all my mistakes in Spanish. Throughout the days that followed, I enjoyed the conversations that opened up as a result of what we all learned. One week later, we held our first book club, all in English! A dozen or so of us spent the past week reading The Giver, highlighting passages that stood out to us and even creating art inspired by what we'd read. Then we met on Saturday to...

When I first began teaching the 25 students of a special English language/culture program, they told me excitedly that one day we'd go to camp. There were stories of speaking English only for days at a time, and nervous giggles about how they'd ever be able to do that.  Fast forward to almost two years later and it's time for that very camp. We loaded up on a bus--all of them plus me, the one "adult" of the crowd--to make a six-hour trip to the rustic campground. We were a few minutes into our trip at this point. Nestled in giant trees of mangoes, bananas, and just about whatever other tropical fruit you can imagine, this place was a site for sore eyes after all that bus time. I gave them a big pep talk before we piled out to drop off our bags and find the rest of the 90 students...

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of extra activities and travels, those things that usually pop up from time to time but happened to all come at once this month. Right in the middle of that was a trip to Asuncion related to my teaching job. I love teaching English every weekend to a group of around 25 teens who won scholarships from the US Embassy to attend. As part of their sponsorship, they also learn cultural and historical facts about our country, participating in some of our holidays throughout the year. (One of their favorites so far was the Thanksgiving Feast a few months back.) Last week, I went to the capital for a conference hosted by the institute where our class takes place. They do these every few months, and it's a great opportunity to get to know the other teachers...

My baby, the one who was born just a few short days ago, is 18 today. How did that happen? She came out already grown, knowing way too much about what was going on around her and making sure she let us know that she knew. She could talk long before she could walk, so she set about using her vocal leadership skills to get her almost-twin Bryan, born 6 weeks after her and already walking, to go retrieve toys and her pacifier. She hasn't stopped honing this skill since. This week is also the last week of her homeschooling career, so despite that we don't have any sort of co-op to join with for a graduation ceremony, her high school days end the same day she becomes a legal adult...mayor de edad in Spanish. These past two years have been a big time of preparation for the next step, something...

Mentoring teen girls is close to my heart.  It's something I've tried to be actively involved in no matter where we lived, and having these little get-togethers we affectionately refer to as Princess Club is part of that. I have been working this past year with the team at more to be--the ministry founded by Elisa Pulliam dedicated to "equipping moms, engaging teens, and encouraging mentors." They offer lots of studies, worksheets, and printables that I've been working my way through translating, so naturally, I wanted to try them out on the gals in my little corner of the globe! This past Saturday, we hosted the first of such meetings that's been held at The Bridge. It was an odd time of day--lunch-time on a weekend--but since many of the girls I invited are part of...

Spiderman, Super Mario, Darth Vader,Wolverine, Dr. Who, Jack Sparrow, and a few ninja guys. And me.  I sure didn't expect to find what I did when I agreed to go at the last minute to this cosplay event. cosplay (costume + play) -- dressing up like a specific character and role playing a short skit or dance related to that character; most commonly selected from pop culture personalities, anime, comic books, cartoons, movies, video games, or television. No, this isn't REALLY the mythbusters guy, but pretty close, huh? For the record, I went dressed as Arrow, the greenish arrow-wielding hero of comics and a new TV series, but I couldn't handle the over-100 and high-humidity temperatures, so no more costume.  I didn't expect to meet so many young people who are involved...

After a lot of deliberation, we decided to take our mid-sized fake Christmas tree down to The Bridge and let it stand in the front window.  It was fun to decorate it and explain our tradition to folks coming in, and that way the lights weren't making our house even hotter. Every evening, a young couple brought their baby girl by to stand outside and watch the twinkly lights. We invited them in but they said she was in that grumpy part of day and the lights were the only thing that seemed to calm her down. Glad we could help.  We decorated a small white one we found at a little tienda on the corner for our house, leaving out the lights altogether.  I figured that if it's sparkly white, who'd see the lights anyway, right?  We had a beautiful rainstorm the week of...