Testimonies...

Remember my friend Sol?  It was such a blessing to spend the weekend with her on our way to Arkansas from Chihuahua.  We missed Ciro and their son, Tona, since they were visiting family in Mexico that week.  

Our first morning there, as Sol busied herself preparing us a hearty breakfast of huevos rancheros, she excitedly shared with us how God has been working in her life.  She shared how God had released her from her hatred and resentment for her father and I listened with tears running down my cheeks of how she had led him to the Lord once God had changed her heart and attitude towards him.  I felt extremely humbled to have been used by God in Sol's life and to hear of yet one more person that had been changed because of her testimony.  I don't know how many people Sol has brought to the feet of Jesus, seems like every time I talk to her, she speaks of yet another friend or family member that has been saved because of her testimony.  I guess when God changes people's lives in such a drastic way, people take notice!

Sol still has struggles in her life and areas that she acknowledges that are challenging her, but I could sense a peace about her that she didn't have before.  I wish we lived closer so we could visit more often (besides, she's a really awesome cook and she made us not one, but two different types of flan!).  

Sol and I...

Miguel with his huevos rancheros...

An Afternoon on the Lake

It's good to have a friend with a boat and

a lake nearby...

Great to feel the wind in our hair...

...even if it makes us look funny...

Raft riding...

...what a blast!

Miguel enjoyed a turn at the wheel...

When I posted some of these pictures on Facebook, a friend asked about pictures of me from this day...yeah. right.  Pictures of me in my bathing suit?  Don't think so...

Miguel at Work

We arrived on a Monday night and Miguel was working by Thursday...if you know Miguel, you that's pretty much par for the course...he's a hard-workin' man!  The reason he had a job so quickly is that our church hired him to work with the Buildings and Grounds dept. (a job he's had before); we were very thankful that they had an opening for him.  It's a long commute, he has to walk all the way over to the other side of the campus to get his gear (and coffee, because there's no way I'm up before he leaves at 6 a.m., sorry).  I've been able to snap a few pictures of him when he's come to work around the Village.

As you can see, there's a LOT of grass to be mowed around here...

I think the guys secretly have a lot of fun on those lawn mowers...

We're still tired, though, and we can tell

because this is what happens when we

stop to take a load off of our feet...

On The Other Side

In northern Mexico, one of the ways they refer to the United States is as 'el otro lado', literally 'the other side'.  Say, for example, you show a friend something you brought with you from back home and they ask where you bought it, so you tell them "el otro lado", in the U.S.  Or you say someone is coming from el otro lado, meaning they are coming in to Mexico from the U.S.

We are now in el otro lado, literally and figuratively.  After a very interesting trip from Chihuahua to Arkansas, we're getting settled into our little house in the Village, the missionary housing provided for us by our home church here.  I cannot tell you how refreshing and relaxing it is for us to be here in this haven of rest...to be able to walk in the door with only a few personal things and have a fully furnished and beautifully decorated home waiting for you! And not only that, but the grounds are beautiful, too...the Village is not only a peaceful place of rest for Miguel and I, but a very safe place for our kids to play as well.  

Our house in the Village.

We're on the other side of our goodbyes and the journey, too, and I can tell that we're still recovering and processing everything from the last few weeks...the kids, too, are struggling to adjust.  While they are excited to be here and have other missionary kids and friends to play with, they are cranky and crabby (join the club, lol).  Jkaile, especially, has been affected by this move since our apartment in Mexico was the only home he can remember.

As far as our actual trip to el otro lado, I would probably rank it as the worst travel experience we've ever had.  Yeah.  One of the reasons I'm just so glad to be here!  It took us way longer to pack up the van and trailer than we expected, so we got a late start out of Chihuahua at 3 p.m.  We decided to go ahead and leave, however, since we figured we'd either drive through the night or just find a hotel along the way.  Since the plan was to spend the weekend with my friend Sol (her husband Ciro and son Toñito were in Mexico visiting family) in College Station, Texas, we knew we had a long way to go.

After saying goodbye to our dear friends John and Maria (tears flowed there...well, at least for Maria and I...I think John and Miguel probably kept a stiff upper lip...) who had so graciously opened their home to us for our last two weeks in Mexico, we took off for the border. Miguel was able to cancel our visas and car permit without all of us getting out of the van, so that was nice.  On the U.S. side, however, security was tight and they pulled us over for an inspection.  They let us go rather quickly, though, so I guess we convinced them of our innocence.  :)

Other than Miguel missing a turn-off and making a long detour due to the fact that his navigator was sleeping, the trip proceeded rather smoothly until about 1 a.m. when we got pulled over by a city policeman in a little Texas town.  He pulled us over to let us know that the lights on our trailer weren't working, but he also wanted to see license and proof of insurance as well as my driver's license.  This is when we found out we didn't have proof of insurance (we knew we had insurance, just couldn't find the proof).  Fortunately, he was a kind policeman, didn't give us a ticket or make a fuss about the insurance and after telling us we needed to fix the lights, went off into the night.

Miguel fiddled with the lights for a while and they finally came back on, so it must have just been some loose wiring. Since he noticed that one of the trailer tires was a bit low on air, we decided to go back into town to inflate it a bit more.  On the way back out of town, we got pulled over a second time by a state trooper in the exact same spot as the first time we got pulled over!  This time, he said he stopped us because he couldn't see our trailer's license plate because the tarp was covering it a bit.  Again, license and proof of insurance please...and we were like, um....and once again, we were treated with mercy and he let us go with just a citation and an admonishment to get the proof of insurance as soon as we could.  While the state trooper had us pulled over, we overheard a few things on the radio that made us think that security was a bit tight in the area due to the situation with illegal immigrants, so we think that's probably what was going on there...they were probably stopping any suspicious-looking vehicles or ones with out-of-state license plates, which would explain why they weren't so concerned about the insurance papers.

Because of the border crossing and the time lost in the detour and with the lights/getting pulled over, we really lost a lot of time.  Once we got up to the interstate where we would turn east, both Miguel and I were so tired that we just pulled over into a rest area behind a bunch of trucks, locked the doors and slept for a couple of hours!  When we woke up, we went not-so-merrily on our way because we were just so zonked.  I drove for as long as I could to let Miguel sleep more and then Miguel took over again.  As the day went on, we felt a bit better and were able to enjoy the beautiful sights of central Texas...there are some really cute little towns there that would be so much fun to explore...such as the German-Texan town of Fredericksburg.

Anyway, about 30 minutes out from College Station, we stopped at a gas station to call Sol and get directions to her house.  She was excited to hear from us, but then I had to call her right back to let her know we'd be delayed even more because Miguel had noticed a major problem with one of the trailer tires...it was terribly deformed and literally about to fall off because all the ball bearings had melted!  yikes.  We were so very thankful to be at a gas station, have a place for the kids and I to sit inside out of the 105 degree heat (even though the lady attending the station was unfortunately less than gracious), and that there was a Tractor Supply Co. literally across the street where Miguel could buy all the parts he needed to replace the tire and tire mount.  He also talked with a Mexican guy who happened to be there who called a friend of his to come help Miguel fix the tire more quickly than Miguel could have done it on his own...the compadre system at work there.  :)

So by the time we made it to Sol's house, we'd been on the road for 26 hours and were completely and utterly wiped out!  While we had an excellent time at Sol's house and it was great to catch up with their lives, I started realizing that I was getting a stomach something.  I am pretty sure it was not a flu, but more like amoebic dysentery or some such thing I'd picked up somewhere along the way.  My stomach was cramping and I kept having to run to the bathroom every hour or so...not good while traveling.  Sol had the right medicine, though, so Sunday night I began that treatment and felt better within about six hours...which was good because I was beginning to wonder if we'd be able to leave that next day after all!

Monday morning, after a good Mexican breakfast, we said our goodbyes to Sol and headed out.  There really are no good ways to get to Northwest Arkansas from College Station, so we mapped out what we felt would be the best route on secondary roads even though it would probably take us a bit longer.  Everything went well until after lunch when Jojo began throwing up.  I felt bad because about all we could do was provide a container for him and just keep going.  He didn't complain a lot and we just kept stopping to empty the container...poor guy.  Nothing like feeling so sick on the road...

Then about 3 p.m. in a town in northeast Texas, we lost the other tire...we were literally riding on the rim and left some nice grooves in the highway for a while.  Miguel had a spare and he and Micah worked to get that tire on so we could go look for a place to buy a new one.

Again, God was good and there was a Tractor Supply Co. just a quarter of a mile back down the highway!  It didn't take long for Miguel to get the new tire on while the rest of us hung out in the air conditioning of Home Depot (which would also probably sold the right tires, too) and then we were back on the road.  We really enjoyed the scenery on the back roads of eastern Oklahoma, but Miguel was pretty stressed at the thought of losing another tire...once it was dark, he kept looking in the mirrors for signs of sparks!  But we made it to Rogers with no more tire troubles...I think we pulled in here around 11:30 p.m. that night.  We were greeted by some welcome signs from our friends, the Rasicos, another missionary family we know who are living here at the Village.

Nothing like a warm welcome to make 

us feel at home!  

So we've been working at getting settled in and getting better...Jojo was sick for the first couple of days we were back and now Gracia and Jkaile might be getting it, too (although I hope not!).  I felt pretty badly, too, with my stomach thing, but am gradually getting better now that the medicine is really taking effect.  We've been able to see a few friends so far and that's been good.  Once we're better, I'm sure we'll be able to get out more.  I will also start homeschooling in a couple of weeks, so need to get organized for that...in the meantime, I'm working on helping the kids learn how to live in this house and set up the daily routines before we tackle school.

I think my final thoughts on this trip, though, are that in spite of it being our 'worst' travel experience ever in terms of sickness, length, problems, etc. it was actually one of the best because I did not freak out.  I was calm, rational, did not say "I told you so" (not even ONCE), in control of my emotions (okay, well, there were a couple of times...), and had peace that God would take care of us no matter what happened.  I have such a thankful heart for the way God is working in me because it made it such a better experience than it would have been if I'd just totally flipped every time something else happened.  So neat to see how God continues to work and how much these changes in me have such a positive effect on my family.

Has Anyone Seen my Shoes?

I would really love to write another post about culture stuff, but I can't find my books.

I would also love to wear my nice shoes to church this morning since they will be calling us to the front to pray over our family, but I can't find the box with the rest of my shoes.  

I also can't find the lid to my water bottle, my other bag of coffee beans, or my good pair of fingernail clippers.  Amazing how we take fingernail clippers for granted...

I also need to sort clothes, clean this house, finish packing...but I think I'm too tired.  I need a moving fairy, I think.

Well, I'm off to get ready for church and then another despedida (going away party) this afternoon with our small group from church.  The fun never ends!

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!

Aguirre Family Ministry Update

I was reading this morning from Romans chapter 4, where Paul is talking about Abraham's faith and belief in God...

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah's womb was also dead.

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.  This is why it was credited to him as righteousness.  Romans 4:18-22

I've always thought that I'd love to have that kind of faith and unwavering trust in God.  I realized this morning that maybe I have...at least a tiny bit of it anyway.  And while I am not sure that I would presume to think that my faith quite measures up to Abraham's, maybe it doesn't need to.  Jesus said that faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to move mountains...so maybe my baby steps towards an Abraham-sized faith is right where God wants me for now.

I wrote a few weeks ago about our ministry and the upheaval we're going through this summer....there's still so much uncertainty in our situation.  At this point, it does appear that we are packing and preparing to leave Mexico to take our furlough home assignment* and yet...we might actually stay, or at least come back if God changes some things.  If we do leave and God shows us that we're moving on, we may or may not go to Venezuela.  We may or may not move in a completely different direction and end up on a remote island in the Pacific, for all I know!

So much uncertainty and yet here I am, former uptight, I-need-to-know-NOW, controlling, worry wart of a woman exhibiting a simple, child-like trust in God that goes way way beyond anything I ever dreamed possible for myself!  Not that I didn't want it, just that I didn't know how to get it.  I am astonished at and ever so grateful for the changes that God has worked in me to bring me to this place of trust (because that's the only way to 'get it' anyway, I had to give up and let God do the work).  For example, if we really might be led to stay in Mexico, then maybe it's not such a good idea to be selling or gifting our things, right?  And yet I have complete assurance that if God moves us to stay, then He will replace the things we need when we need them and worrying about that is not something that I need to clutter up my life with right now.**  There are more important things to focus on, like being cheerful and meeting my kids' needs today.

I don't know that I am actually quite sure about going to Venezuela under the present circumstances and yet I have complete peace in honoring Miguel's ministry decisions because I know that God and His Plan is in control here (Proverbs 19:21).  It might sound contradictory, but I see it as choosing to step aside and let God be the one to reveal that plan as He sees fit through my husband and trust that God will work to change what is not for the best for our family (Proverbs 3:5-6).  I don't have to try to convince Miguel of anything...just pray and trust and calmly share my thoughts when asked or as God leads.  I couldn't do that before because I was too worried that my dear husband might make a mistake that I would have to 'suffer' for (quite humbling for me to have to admit, but yeah, that's how it was).

So this is a time when it is so obvious that God is working to change and grow us because we're ready for Him to work...it's also a time when God is using us to speak truth to others regarding some situations that we find ourselves in right now.  Yes, we're struggling in some areas, haven't done everything perfectly, and yet these things are the very tools that God is using to shape, grow and mature us.  It's an exciting place to be, even though the learning and growing process has been painful as we're stretched farther than we think we can go.

But this trust, this simple faith, this peace (Philippians 4:6-7) is amazing.  I think I want more.

Philippians 3:7-14

*The current plan is to land in Northwest Arkansas mid-August, find a place to stay and for Miguel to work for a time as we pray and think through our options while working through the decision-making process with our home church there...

**I used to think that this sort of faith was a fluffy, too-spiritual-to-be-real sort of thing...like people who said that were just in some sort of denial or something and that sooner or later they would 'come to their senses' and realize that real life is quite different...and while I don't want to go to the extreme of being naive or unwise, what I am experiencing is something totally different and more real and healthy than my former anxious state of mind... 

Happy Birthday to Jkaile!

I had a lot of mixed feelings when I found out that I was expecting Jkaile...it was a difficult time in our lives and I knew that a pregnancy with all of its discomforts would most likely only complicate things.  I was right...

Morning sickness hit me hard and in the middle of that, we moved from the city where we lived in Venezuela to a small town to start a new ministry.  The house we lived in was very comfortable, but without a good cooling system and I struggled a lot with the heat and humidity.  I got very sick that February with a bad flu and became very dehydrated without realizing it.  I probably should have been hospitalized, but I refused to budge and poor Miguel had to nurse me back to health with the help of some friends.

It was during that time that I began to think that perhaps I would lose this baby...I'm not sure why I was convinced of this, but somehow I believed that since I hadn't really wanted another baby, maybe I didn't deserve to receive the blessing of another baby.  Completely absurd, I know, but it was a low time in my life and I don't think that I was thinking straight.  But because of that feeling, I prayed more fervently for this child than I had for the others.

Once I recovered from that illness, we had to move once again and the second house we lived in was even hotter than the first.  I struggled with the heat and dehydration and exhaustion and varicose veins in an unmentionable part of my body that made life miserable.  I was one grouchy momma, let me tell you!  I don't like to think about that time of my life...we traveled some during the months of April and May and then in June traveled back to the states to attend a family reunion.  Here's a picture of my mom and sisters and me on the last day of our family reunion...I went into labor that very night.  If I look uncomfortable, I was!  lol  I found out that my belly was so huge because I had an incredible amount of amniotic fluid.

Jkaile was born at 3 a.m. on July 22 after a rather short labor.  When he was born, the doctor noticed right away that there was a full knot in the cord and they cut it out to study it.  I don't think I was quite 'with it' to realize the full implications of that knot, I was just relieved to find out that Jkaile appeared to be a normal, healthy baby. 

What a cutie!  

At two weeks of age, I took Jkaile in to the dr. for the normal two-week check-up.  The pediatrician looked him over and then just stood there holding him for a long time, looking him over.  Then she kind of came to herself and handed him back to me saying that she rarely sees such a "perfect" baby.  As a new mom I was flattered, of course, but also surprised by her comment because I'm sure she sees hundreds of newborns every month.  I asked her about Jkaile's cord that had not yet fallen off even after 2 weeks...she said that his cord appeared to be very thick and that sometimes a thick cord takes longer to dry up and fall off.  I also mentioned that he'd had a knot in his cord at birth and asked her about that.  She was surprised and told me that a knot in the umbilical cord is "potentially fatal" and that what probably saved Jkaile was the fact that his cord was so thick.  

And then I knew...God has a plan for every life...God protected Jkaile through all of my sickness and travels and even from the knot in his cord.  That is also probably the reason I had been prompted to pray for his life and his safety all during my pregnancy.  Jkaile's life is a precious gift from God that we will enjoy as long as God allows.  

Jkaile at two weeks.

Jkaile and I

As Jkaile grew, I worried about a bit about his development, wondering if there had been any adverse effects from a possible lack of oxygen due to the knot in his cord, but it has become quite obvious to us that the exact opposite is true.  Not only is Jkaile a normal, healthy child, he is also demonstrating a higher intelligence than any of our other kids at this age!  Some friends who are highly educated in the areas of education and psychology who teach him in Sunday School have actually encouraged me to think of him as a special needs child because of his high intelligence (in other words, I need to keep him busy and challenged or suffer the consequences!).  No, he probably won't be one of those twelve year olds who graduate from college, but it's obvious that he is pretty smart.  

So Happy Birthday Jkaile! I'm so glad that you are part of this family!  Love you lots, Mom

Jkaile, July 2010

Pancakes

Pancakes...one of our favorite meals!  Jkaile loves to help in the kitchen and as soon as he sees me standing at the counter with a mixing bowl, he comes running...literally!  I recently started letting him help me with the pancakes...I pour the batter and flip and then he gets to take them off the griddle and put them on the plate.  At first I was afraid he'd burn himself, but so far he's been careful.  Micah enjoys helping, too, although he's already learned how to pour and flip.  

Banana pancakes (which explains why they are lumpy, lol)

Some days I wish I had four arms!  

This morning we made pancakes with faces.

Jkaile liked the sad faces the best...

Future chefs at work....

Pigs in a Blanket

This is how I get help to make supper!  

A glorious mess...

We had to get a bit creative to find 

enough rolling pins...

Gracia girl...

Since Micah is old enough to be able handle the oven,

I hardly had to do a thing.

Yummy!

...especially with ketchup.