"I am talking to a puppet!....."

06.17.2011

So some of you may know Silvia....such a truly wonderful lady! She's the kind of lady you fall in love with the moment you meet her. I can't believe I have known her for 6 years. The way I would describe her is that joy, love, and Jesus seeps out of her pours onto anyone who comes near her. You can't not feel alive around her! She's hilarious and such a goof-ball!! (if you know her, did I describe her well??) 
To answer probably the question some of you may have, she is doing really well. Feeling very well, blood pressure doing much better.
So anyways, her only request was that she wanted a puppet to share with her children in class. During the week she teaches 29 five year olds by herself! So Harris Chapel Nazarene Church gave us their very favorite and best puppet, Alex. We had several churches donate puppets, but Alex was the only full body puppet. Oh my! You would have thought we had brought her a baby from the United States! She would not put the puppet down!!
It's was quite hilarious, watching her love on that puppet! She talked to him like he was a child....very funny! She is definitely a child at heart! 
She's very excited to take the puppet to school on Monday and share him with the children.
Last evening after church, we went to Silvia's home with her to celebrate her son, Solimar's, birthday! We met loads of family....her mother, stepfather, sister, brother, nieces and nephews, and her husband, Roberto. We had a great time sharing dinner with them, and cake! They sing happy birthday in Spanish and English. As a family tradition, they each go around and give well wishes to the person celebrating. It was a great thing to share with these people and we also gave our wishes to Solimar. Even Alex was able to share! Ha!!
Some of her family knows a bit of English so we were able to talk to them. Her stepfather was very good with it, so we talked for awhile with him. Her niece and nephews sang to us in English also. It was very sweet...I recorded it and will post it at a later date. Others at the party were playing 'super banco'....and Panamanian form of Monopoly.....very neat!
It was definitely a great night that we typically wouldn't have. I'm so thankful that we are having this experience and learning more about the people of panama.