Treats From Grammy and Other News

It is always fun to receive packages and stuff from back home when there is a chance to send things with people traveling, so this week when our missions pastor and two other ladies from our home church came for the meetings we had, it was a great opportunity for us to get some care packages.  Most of what we got was our own stuff, two suitcases and one duffelbag's worth of stuff we'd left behind for someone to bring when there was a chance.  I asked a friend to buy me a few things, a couple pairs of new jeans for me, some scrapbook paper, a microscope for Micah's birthday (shhhh!  don't tell!) and some other little things.  Miguel asked for some special theft-deterrent lug nuts for the van tires and a bicycle pump.  My mom was also able to send a few things, including a small suitcase with my sewing machine (that I really didn't expect to get until next year sometime!), a few things we'd left behind at her house and some candy corn!

So even though none of what we got was particularly a surprise, it was still pretty exciting and felt a bit like Christmas!  (Now I am thinking about the group coming from Arkansas next week and thinking I should ask them to bring some peanut butter...LOL!)  One of the things I was most excited to see was the rest of my shoes...I have been living with just four pairs of shoes since August and that was getting old.

The other thing that really made my day was finding the blade attachment and blending cup for my hand blender!  We thought we'd lost it on the road somewhere since we had the rest of it, but those two pieces were nowhere to be found.  Come to find out, Miguel had packed them in one of these suitcases to come later...and then forgot all about it.  So now all the pieces are back together and I am happy.

And God really showed up in a huge way this week during all of our meetings...it was just an amazing time of fellowship and planning, I continue to be so excited and thankful to be a part of what God is doing here.  It was such a blessing to see a diverse group of people come together in humility and of one heart, seeking only God's will for the future of this ministry.  And we continue to be blessed, encouraged and empowered by a leadership whose desire is to serve us by participating together with us in all of these decisions and not just tell us what to do and how to do it.  I just can't tell you how much of a blessing that is!  Our missions pastor even commented on this, mentioning how impressed he has been this week with the quality of leadership that he sees in Tim and Andres...that is a huge confirmation that we are in the right place!

There was a bit of unwanted excitement this week, however, when Jojo got lost in the park!  Losing a child is never a fun thing, but we're so thankful for God's protection of Jojo...it was quite obvious that He was taking care of our son.  Selene, a friend of ours, and her two daughters were taking care of the kids for us on Thursday.  I had gone to pick them up around 1 p.m. but they weren't at home.  Since I knew that they didn't have a car, I figured that they had walked to a park or somewhere in the neighborhood.  I sat and waited for a while, but then the thought occurred to me to try to find a pay phone and give Selene a call on her cell phone.  I drove down the street and asked a shop owner where I could find a phone, and he told me that there was a pay phone that accepted coins right across from his store.  I talked to Selene and she said they were in the park and I understood that I would go down to the main entrance and pick them up.  So I drove the five blocks or so to the park and began looking for them there.  I spotted them a ways off, but it looked like they were leaving the park through another entrance and I wasn't able to catch up with them.

So I got back in the van and drove back up to wait for them at their house.  As I was parking, I noticed Jojo up on the main street waiting to cross and assumed that the whole group was right behind him.  Imagine my surprise when he told me he had come back from the park alone and that he didn't know where Selene and the rest of them were!  I immediately drove back down to the pay phone to call Selene because I figured that she was probably frantic by that time and I was right, she was.  It took them a while to get home, but when they did, Selene was so upset, she just broke down and cried for a long time at the thought of nearly having lost one of my children!  I know that it was a very serious thing to almost have lost Jojo, but I think I was more affected by her emotions...I felt so sorry that she had to go through that experience.  I know exactly what she was going through since we've been there, done that!

I think she was afraid that I would be upset with her, but I reassured her that I was not...I told her of the many other times we've 'lost' Jojo.  The reality is that if any one of our kids is to get lost, it would be Jojo; it has always been that way.  And I recounted to her the ways that God had worked...I had come to pick them up at just the right time, God showed me the pay phone (I don't usually use pay phones!) and if I had not come back from the park when I did, Jojo would not have known how to find their house...as he made his way back from the park, he didn't know where to go, but when he saw me drive by on the way back from the park, he followed me.  And God protected Jojo from getting snatched by someone along the way.

So on top of fervently praising God for watching out for Jojo, we're now teaching all the kids our address and phone number in case that ever happens again!  I also realized we need to reteach Survival Skills 101 (as in when you realize you have gotten separated from your group stay where you are until someone comes back for you or go find a policeman).  Jojo told me that he thought that they had forgotten about him...as if that could ever happen, so he just took matters into his own hands!  I have told him many times since, that we will never forget about him, ever...we might accidentally leave him somewhere, but we will always go back for him...

In other news, on Thursday night Miguel and Micah went up to the mountains in the northern part of the state to go to a camp for Totonac young people.  What a great opportunity for Miguel to serve, to make contacts with others working with this people group, and to have some fun time with Micah!  In the meantime, the rest of us have crashed here at home...it's been a long week with a lot of action, it's just nice to sit around and not have too much to do.  They will be back on Monday, if all goes as planned.

I am quite proud of myself since I've done a lot of driving while Miguel has been gone...I took Tim and Andres out to a mall for supper on Thursday night and then yesterday I was able to take them to the bus station.  I am able to find my way around now in various parts of the city with the help of our handy Guia Roji (literally, the Red Guide, a brand of road and city maps) and that feels good.  Driving here is always an adventure, but so far so good...

So that's the news from this week...I am off to go indulge in some more coffee and a good book...

Spring

A few pictures of spring from around campus...

forsythia in all its glory...

fresh growth on the rosebushes...

buds on the trees...

miniature blooms underfoot...

graceful green next to blossoms white...

breathtaking beauty...

pretty girls and tulip trees...

if God gave us such beauty on earth, imagine what the 

new heaven and new earth will be like! 

  LORD, our Lord,
      how majestic is your name 
             in all the earth!

          You have set your glory
              in the heavens.Ps 8:1

Last Week in Mexico

It's hard to get my head around it, but this is our last week in Mexico.  We will probably be leaving here next Thursday or Friday and my heart is a jumble of emotions...goodbyes are hard, especially when I feel like I'm just beginning to make some really good connections at our local church.  There is always Facebook and phone calls, but it's not the same as hanging out over a cup of coffee.

We're completely moved out of our apartment and staying with some missionary friends who have five kids and big house.  Between us, there are 10 kids, four dogs, one cat, two fish, and one parakeet who has had his routine severely disrupted because we're staying in his room.  lol  JD has actually not spent too much time with us here since he's been working with a friend, so it's mostly been the 10 and under crowd occupying the house.

Last week was a long week...on the second day of moving, Miguel kicked the kids and I out of the house because neither of us could work well with the kids underfoot and unpacking things we were trying hard to pack.  And as luck would have it, it rained all. week. long.  Remind me to avoid moving in August in Chihuahua next time!  Miguel and the guys had to keep changing moving plans to avoid the downpours and the laundry piled up ever so quickly.  But we got things done and we're moved and that's that.

Except now, I've crashed.  Bottomed out.  Reached my limit.  I guess it's to be expected after the big push of last week when Miguel and could scarcely snatch a hurried kiss on the cheek, much less an emotional connection or time in the Word.  This home has been a refuge for me and for that I'm grateful or I'm afraid the crash would have been worse.  So while I can't necessarily just cancel everything on my plate at this point, I am taking time to recharge, refresh and get ready for what's next.

Now we have the goodbyes to look forward to, or not look forward to, rather.  I would much prefer to say au revoir...we shall meet again.  I hate goodbyes, would much rather just duck out in the middle of the night and not have to look into the eyes of my friends and see their pain or feel mine.  It's hard for those outside the missionary life to understand what it's like to have a calling from God that takes one away from dear friends...and yet one day I hope to see them in a place where we'll never have to say goodbye again.   Okay, it's late, I'm tired and now I'm just getting mushy.

Anyway, I perk up a little when I think of the hellos on the other side of those dreaded goodbyes...hello to friends back home, one of our home churches, sisters, my Mom and stepdad who are retiring to the family farm this month, humidity...we also have received word that there has been a cancellation at our church's missionary housing giving us a place to stay from the time we arrive through March of next year if we need it!  Furthermore, they have a second vehicle available for us to use...so many blessings as we see God provide!

Okay, gotta run and tuck in some boys who need their mommy to pray with them.  Good night and God bless!

Silly me!

Well, I went and did it today.

I locked myself out of the house!

Yeah.

Several factors contributed to this highly annoying situation...

1. I was NOT wearing my keys around my neck (obviously) because Miguel had taken them; at the moment, it's the only set we have that includes the key to the padlock on the front gate. He needed them since he took the van out today.
2. I wore pants with no pockets today...normally, if I don't wear the keys around my neck, I would put the other set in my pocket.
3. The mat was not placed in front of the door as usual since Miguel had shaken it off earlier and left it at the bottom of the steps. Normally, the mat does not allow the door to close all the way and we can catch it before it slams shut.

So, Jojo was going to water the plants and I stepped outside to help Jkaile down the steps and wham! I heard that door slam behind me and I knew I was in trouble! Such a sinking feeling...

At first I figured that I was REALLY stuck because I didn't have keys to get out the gate, either, but then I noticed that Miguel had left the padlock on the main gate open. PTL for small things! :) (If I hadn't been able to get out the gate to go call at a friend's house, I'm not sure what I would have done...asked some stranger walking by if I could please use their cell phone to call my husband since I was locked out of the house?! THAT would have been quite embarrassing!)So I loaded the boys into the stroller and I went over to a friend's house to call Miguel. We had a nice chat over some hot tea while we waited for him to get back, so all was not lost!

Unfortunately, I DID lose the rice I had been cooking...it was rather charred by the time I got back home...

Back and Forth

I got my mundane in yesterday! Not that mundane means boring or uneventful...just that it was a pretty ordinary, common sort of day for a stay-at-home Mom. I actually got to stay home and nothing really stressful happened. I spent the morning doing laundry, chased after Jkaile (he is obsessed with the dog water and the powdered laundry soap), tossed the ball for the dog while I was outside (since she's really annoying if you don't), got the dishes done, swept the floor (twice), fixed meals, cleaned up after the kids, and then actually had company for supper!

As I was thinking about what to have for supper yesterday, the thought ocurred to me to make potato soup. That thought stayed with me all day, especially since I remembered that I had some bacon, which makes the potato soup all the yummier! As I was putting the potatoes on to cook, the thought ocurred to me to invite the three single girls down for supper.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I struggle with extending spontaneous invites...is it really a prompting from the Lord or just one of my ideas? Oh, they'll probably say no, they're busy, what difference does it make if I invite them or not...and then I end up talking myself out of it entirely. But the idea stayed with me, so I sent the kids up to ask (aren't I brave?!)...it was cute how excited they were to do that for me! Miss Erika (that's what we call her for the kid's sakes-so cute to hear Jojo asking for "Mith Ewika") came down and said she'd love to come and were the other two girls invited, too, which of course they all were. So about an hour later, we all sat down to potato soup and home-made biscuits...the soup turned out a tad bit salty, but oh so good! I noticed that the girls were eating with gusto (we polished off an entire batch of biscuits!) and then Miss Erika mentioned that they didn't have any food in the house! So there, I think it was a prompting from the Lord and I am so glad I listened! And you know what? Even if they hadn't been able to come, it would have shown them love, so what am I worried about?

Bedtime was uneventful for the most part, everyone went down without a fuss...although I've been having to deal with a health issue with Gracia. It's sort of an unappetizing issue, but common for living overseas (even stateside!), but it would appear that she has a bad case of pinworms. :( Which are worse at night. I didn't get a clue until a couple of nights ago. It does help her to sleep better if she soaks in the tub right before bed, but have I remembered to do that until after bedtime? Sigh...but anyway, she woke up crying about the time I was ready for bed and I felt quite frustrated thinking it was going to be another difficult night for her. As I sat there thinking what to do, I remembered that I did have some worm medicine, left over from the last round. So I gave her that, soaked her in the tub, put her back in bed with a princess movie, and went back to bed. What can I say...I was rather desperate for sleep!

So that was yesterday...mundane...today not so mundane. I did not sleep well last night even though Gracia didn't come sleep with me. The dogs barked a lot, probably at the pack of dogs that roams up and down our street every once in a while. It's enough to get me out there with the pellet gun taking potshots at them at 2 in the morning! So when I got up, I could already tell that today was probably the day that I needed to Ask for Help. I don't know why it is so hard for me to ask for help? Is it a pride issue, not wanting to appear so needy? Am I just afraid that people will say no? Regardless, it is just really hard for me to ask for help, I'd rather just tough it out alone, but that doesn't usually turn out so good.

So back to this morning, Jojo fell off the trampoline (I know, I know, we're looking into getting the net)...he wasn't too hurt, just scraped his chin. The laundry came out with lint all over everything (I don't think I like that soap). I had to go pick up Micah from school because he's sick and while I was there, I realized that his bicycle is missing. He forgot to bring it home yesterday from school and now it's gone. Someone may have moved it, but the most likely thing is that it has been stolen. I got pretty stressed about that, but just had to give it to God and not waste any more of my emotional energy worrying over that! I forgot to arrange for someone to pick Gracia up from kindergarten...thank goodness for friends who notice things like that while they are picking up their own child. :)

On the other hand, I am really proud of myself (in a good way, of course!) because I did ask for help. I called and asked for help getting the kids to school and I called and asked for help to get a nap; a time when I was not in charge of anyone else and could just check out. Just having another grown-up to talk to was energizingenough! Know what I mean? And someone is going to bring me supper tonight and tomorrow night! Other positives: all of the dirty laundry now fits into the basket-that's progress! I missed Bible study, but didn't miss the video because it didn't work or something, yay! I hate missing video day. Micah seems to be feeling better already. And the full moon in a cloudless night sky is breathtaking tonight!

This post might sound somewhat like a poor-me rant, but honestly, I am pretty happy because that's not how I'm feeling! I am so grateful for the changes in me that are allowing me to have joy through stressful times...I might be struggling to 'tread water' but I'm not going under! I am asking for help when I need it and I'm handing things to God instead of trying to control them and take care of them myself. I can have a couple of bad days without entering into hopelessness and despair because I know that it's just that...a couple of bad days. Praise you, Lord! God is good.

Being confident of this,

that he who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion

until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

P.S. Miguel called this afternoon, they are down out of the mountains so now we can at least talk on the phone now! It was so good just to hear his voice! He will be flying home on Sunday morning, hopefully early. :)

Words of Encouragement

I have always loved keeping a diary and journaling...to me it's like praying, a way to express thoughts and feelings....really, just whatever comes to mind. I often include Scripture or quotes from books that are meaningful to me. The other day Miguel came home with a beautiful notebook and I've decided to make it into my Words of Encouragement book. It won't be so much a journal as a place to record Scripture, thoughts, quotes, etc. that have been encouraging to me. Last night I was looking for some verses that talk about praising God to start off with and I came across Psalm 103. This passage blessed me and I hope it will bless you as well.

Praise the LORD, O my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Psalm 103:1-5 (NIV)