After a lonely and challenging week and a half in Bogota we were anxious to find a church to attend this past Sunday. Jackson was sick but we had to get out of the apt so we decided to attempt at least part of a service. There is a English-speaking, non-denominational church 4 blocks from our apt that we had heard about and decided it would be the best option for that day (united church of bogota). Seth has a co-worker that attends there so we at least would recognize one face in the crowd. Seth’s co-worker, Adam, met us at the door and began introducing us to other people. One of the first people we met was a lady named Pam. She happened to be from Texas which gave her points with us.  As we talked to her more we learned that she and her husband are actually missionaries with MTW (Mission to the World, a mission agency of the Presbyterian Church in America) and that our church in Dallas, Park Cities Presbyterian is one of their biggest supporters. The church was having a vote that day to confirm her husband Rick as the pastor. We were blown away at the connections. When we got home from church we were jogging our memory because their name sounded so familiar to us. Seth checked his email box and low and behold over 3 months ago we received an email from someone at MTW that knew we were moving to Bogota. She told us about a couple who had lived in Bogota for years and would be returning for ministry around the time when we would be coming to Bogota.  It was them. How can it be that in this massive city that four blocks from our home we found like-minded people, English speaking, familiar with our church back home and from Texas???? We are pretty excited. We have no idea if this is exactly where we will end up during our time in Bogota but we are confident that God was using this to give us a much needed reminder that He knows us and that He knows exactly what we need, when we need it. I’m sure this won’t be the last reminder we need.  You can be praying for us as we work to plug in to the community of Christians and find out how we can serve.

Jackson is 12 weeks old today! He has had such an eventful 12 weeks. Seth and I were talking last night about how not many babies can say at 12 weeks that they have flown on 2 planes, moved to a new continent, spent time in the ER is a strange country, and rolled over!!!

Jackson started getting a little cold a day or so after we arrived in Bogota. We had heard this might be common with the altitude changes. As the week went on Jackson was feeling worse and worse and eating less. By Sat night we took him to the ER because we were concerned that he might have pneumonia. Turns out that this is a “normal” Bogota cold with horrible congestion, diahrea and lethary. As of last night I was attempting to sleep upright with him because he was choking so much. He is getting stronger and starting to interact again like his old self.
We have all heard the phrase in this title before. The phrase “under the weather” has all new meaning here. The locals believe that if children are exposed to the elements they will get sick. Our portero, or security guard and doorman, gives me a lecture every time I take Jackson outside. He recommends that I buy Jackson a ski mask to wear to protect him…not only from the weather but from the pollution. Last week I took Jackson out for a 15 minute walk in the park. It was about 67 degrees outside and I had Jackson in long sleeves, a sweater, a little hat and the portero was insistent that it was far too cold to have a baby outside. He told me that Jackson was going to get sick from our walk. So, you can imagine Sat night when we went downstairs to have them call us a cab for the hospital he was just convinced that it was my fault that Jackson was sick. He peppered me with questions about how I was caring for Jackson including asking me if I was breastfeeding. Now when is it appropriate for the doorman to be giving breastfeeding and health advice? Where I come from that is totally inappropriate. We haven’t learned the phrase for “it’s none of your business” yet. It is high on the priority list for phrases to learn in Spanish! On one hand it is very kind that people take such time to be concerned about the welfare of our child but on the other it is at our expense. Yesterday morning there was a lady in the lobby when we left for church. She told me that Jackson needed a big winter coat…long sleeves, a thick jacket and a blanket bundled around him in his cozy baby carrier just would not do. It is going to be hard to break these folks of old wives tales. For those of you who also might believe that you can catch a cold by being cold…you might want to google old wives tales.

On to the big news with Jackson! On Friday night he rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time! He has been close but has never quite gotten over until then. He was feeling pretty sick most of that day but had 20 minutes or so where he was playful and interactive. Seth and I were so excited that we started clapping and hollering excitedly, so much so that we scared Jackson. He was so confused about what had happened.