Day Twelve in the Dominican Republic

It's seems crazy to say this, but we are already one-third of the way finished with our trip. We're at the point of a trip when it seems like time has really flown by and, at the very same time is still moving somewhat slowly. I'm not sure how many of you have felt that way before, but I feel that way quite a bit.

We spent all morning at the Botanical Gardens in Santo Domingo. It is a beautiful place. We had a lot of fun getting out and walking around in nature. The garden if fairly large at one square mile. We spent some time looking at the Japanese Garden, the Butterfly Garden, the Cactus Garden, the Fern Garden, and many others. We were able to see a bunch of different birds as well, including the second smallest hummingbird in the world.

Zoe also had a lot of fun looking at all of the fish in the ponds and the turtles.

We got back to the apartment a little after noon, made some lunch, and then took naps. We've definitely been noticing that we are tired more often. At orientation they told us that this is pretty typical when adjusting to a different culture--everything wears on you, including the heat. So, we read and slept. Rachel, Zoe, and Lauren also took some time to play a game of Settlers of Catan. Zoe won and was very excited.

We also spent some more time playing games outside with some of the local kids. We met a twelve-year-old boy named Mario and taught him how to play four square. He picked it up fairly quick and became competitive. He connected well with our competitive family :-)

For our family devotions, we've been focusing on the book of Philippians. We've spent time focusing on a chapter each week, reading the entire chapter each night and talking about what "jumps out at us." Since this is the second week, we've been reading the second chapter. One of the verses that we have discussed multiple times is, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus...” (Philippians 2:3–5, ESV). We've noticed how easy it is to become selfish and conceited, focused only on our own interests, when we are uncomfortable (either because of heat, boredom, etc...). It's been a good reminder to look past these things and look to Christ--look to the mind that is ours in Christ. We have been praying about this quite a bit, that God would grant us the mind of Christ and that the Spirit would give us strength and encouragement to consider others as more significant than ourselves. Please join us in that prayer as well.

Buenos Noches!