Little Blessings

I thank God for my children. He has blessed Justin and I with two wonderful children. I pray He gives us the wisdom to raise them in Him. I pray He shows them His Truth despite our inadequacies. "Father we lift these little ones to you and pray you guide each step they take. Thank you for your love and ever constant presence."

Exciting Times

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We want to thank all of you once again for praying for Kaleb. He has been on antibiotics now for almost a month and seems to be doing much better. The Dr. is almost sure he has allergies, we just do not know to what......So, I have taken all smelly things out of our house, all flowers.....and Kaleb is no longer aloud to go horseback riding. It has not been fun, HE LOVES THE HORSE and gets so excited every time he sees it. If any of you have gone through this with a little one and have learned some valuable lessons from experience we would love to hear from you. We obviously want to protect him from getting so sick, but also hate to take away things he enjoys if there are ways to test and know exactly what is causing him to react.
We have had a very full month. The night Kaleb was released from the hospital we began hosting a group of 22 people here at the camp. My mom came to take care of Kaleb, and that was a huge help. The group was wonderful and were a huge encouragement to us and the work here. We had some more guests come in soon after that from Bellevue, and they just flew back yesterday. It is always an encouragement to have visitors come from the States.....especially when they bring me buckets of Red Vines!:)
We also had a children's overnighter this last Friday. We use these nights as rewards for those that attend the program frequently. A total of 82 children, ages 5-12, spent the night and seemed to have great time. (We will have a seperate overnighter for the teens. ) After dinner we turned all the outside lights off and played hide-and-go-seek in the dark, they loved it and we decided it was a great way to drain energy before bed time. Saturday, after the kids program we had our last finance class for parents of the community. Overall, I think they learned a lot and hopefully will put some of what they learned into practice. Sunday, the Church had a potluck here and we did the meat. There were over 140 people who attended. It was a wonderful day of fellowship! Many stayed to play sports and just hang-out, I think the last people left around seven that night. To say the least our heads were ready to hit the pillow that night. We wish all of you could personally meet and know all our new brothers and sisters in Christ. They are such an encouragement.
Kaidan continues to do wonderful in school. We let her take a week off and spend it with my mother. I think she learned more in that one week with mom then she has in a month of school, so it wasn't at all a waste of study time. Her little personality keeps us on our toes and brings us many moments of laughter.
The picture of Kaleb with a little boy is of the little one we have been watching once a week. His Dad is a single Dad taking care of four children. This little boy, Josue, had been staying in a children's home in Quito until recently. So, he's very delayed and needs to put on some pounds...now I know what your thinking he looks chunky, but it's just his cheeks, the rest of his body is very,very skinny. Justin's parents bible class at Broadway has been financially helping this man take care of his little ones, because of them we have been able to take by formula, diapers, and food. Please keep this family in your prayers. The man's name is Adrian.
We love you all and pray you had a wonderful Spring Break. God Bless.

The Dr. just gave us the go!!! Yeah! Thank you all for your prayers. God Bless.

We want to thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement. The Dr. came in this morning and was very happy with Kaleb's progress. He took Kaleb off oxygen in order to see how he does breathing on his own. So far so good! Kaleb seems to have more energy today and just looks much better. If all continues to go well we might be going home tomorrow. God is good! To answer some of your questions. We are in a hospital in Quito, it's suppose to be the best. It's been very nice and feels very clean so that's good.

Kaleb in Hospital

As many of you know our little Kaleb has been off-and-on sick for about seven months now. We brought him in to see the Dr yesterday because Kaleb once again got really bad with fevers reaching 104. He was also taking very short breaths and coughing until he threw up. To say the least we once again got very worried and brought him in. We were thinking the Dr. would just put him on another antibiotic, but that was not the case. After listening to Kalebs chest and reviewing his charts...seeing Kaleb has only gained two pounds in the last five months, he insisted we hospitalize him. Poor little man had to take a head x-ray, chest x-ray, and give lots of blood. It was terrible to watch him go through it all. His veins are incredibly hard to see, therefore they did all kinds of stuff to his little hands and arms to get blood and place the IV. Finally after a lot of crying and screaming they finished with him and we were able to bring him to a room.He has improved tremendously in the last 24 hrs. The Dr.'s main concern is his lack of Oxygen and will not send him home until he is able to breath well enough on his own. We would appreciate your prayers for our little guy. God has really blessed us with a great Dr. and we feel very confident in the hospital we are at. Thank you all for your love and prayers. We will have internet here at the hospital so we'll keep you posted on any further news. God Bless. The Reegers

Trip to Colombia

Our family just got back from a trip to Colombia. I have to admit I was a little nervous to take my children, but all turned out well. We stayed with a friends family and it was a wonderful experience. It made us appreciate our home and hot showers. The family had very little but wanted to share all. It is so easy to live in a bubble, even when working with the poor everyday. It isn't until you actually sleep in their beds and take care of your children under their circumstances do you realize how complicated life can be and how much stronger they are than you. Our family is truly blessed in so many ways. I thank God for all he has given us and pray he gives us the wisdom to use it for his glory.
Justin and some guys from Church have spent a couple of days hiking, trying to find a good hike to take the campers on when they come this summer. Kaleb went with them this last time, on horseback. He spent over four hours on the horse and loved every minute of. He is a true cowboy. Anytime he sees an animal he has to stop and look at it. He loves animals! He is taking more steps these days. He's been able to walk for the last two months, but has preferred to crawl. Just this last week he has taken more steps and seems to enjoy it more.
Kaidan is doing wonderful. She is speaking Spanish a little more than English We were concerned at first but keep her speaking English at home, and that helps. At times she will be speaking English and she'll just subsitute a spanish verb using an English tense. It really keeps us on our toes, because we can't always figure out what she is saying right away. Kaidan can get quite frustrated with us, and doesn't get why we can't understand her......she thinks we're a little slow.
The Church is growing each week. This last Sunday we had a Sunday lunch and then played some games. We were also able to witness two of our teenagers give their lives over to our Father. God is truly blessing the Church and we are so excited and humbled to be a part of His work here. We want to thank all of you who are lifting us and the Church up in your prayers.
We pray each of you have a wonderful week. God bless.

Back into the Swing of Things

I've decided one of the hardest things to do is have a nice relaxing Christmas and then have to go back to work..... However this year wasn' t as hard as it has been in the past. We had a wonderful time with family and friends while in the States. However, it was nice to take a step back and analize what we are doing and how we can do it better.
Upon arriving back in Ecuador we participated in a week long Medical Mission trip. Medical Missions always have a way of opening our eyes to how blessed we are. I remember the first time Justin went on a trip with me. He knew no Spanish and we had no intentions of ever moving to Ecuador. God's plans for our lives cease to amaze me.
It was great to come back to the Church here and listen to how God blessed it while we were away. The small groups continue to go well and there are many who are excited about learning more about our Father. There were four baptisms while we were away and several others who are really searching for God's will in their lives. All I can say is it's exciting for us to see God moving and we feel truly blessed to be a part of His work in Ecuador.
The childrens program continues to do well. We have some new CDs with fun kid songs and have been teaching them one or two a day. The kids are loving it.
We want to thank you all for your prayers and love. I will continue to try and do better at writing on the blog. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers. God Bless.