Today we took salt water showers down at the campground at the beach because we didn't have water in the Segundo Piso for the second day in a row (aka: 3 days without showers).
It was quite an experience. The list of things I no longer take for granted just grows and grows each day... :o)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Fashion Show!
We had to clean out the Apartments of all the donated clothes and bring it over to the Segundo Piso. We then went through all of the clothing to sort and fold it. Casey and I found a few interesting items that we wanted to share with all of you...Casey in the heaviest jacket found in the Apts. She was swimming in it... and just putting it on was a feat of strength!
KUNG FU CASEY! You may not be able to see it very well... but it is very kimono-esque in nature...
This little ditty was one of the first things we found. The dress made me laugh... so I put it on. :o) This really reminded me of the rummage sales at FPC--try
ing to see who can find the most ridiculous article of clothing to model for everyone!This one I actually LIKED! If I were not a missionary in Mexico, knowing that there are people who need this clothing FAR more than I do, I would have swiped it. It made me laugh and reminded me of Kristiana because she has this amazing knack for taking the most ridiculous items and making them look good. This retro-ish piece reminded me of her... :o)
Oh Musta-dee!
So we got a Christmas Tree on Saturday. :o) Above is a picture of a very happy girl hugging her tree. Never thought I'd be a "tree-hugger"... but my oh my how life surprises us!BTW-- yes, that is the car I drive. No, it has no rear-view mirror. Yes, the steering wheel is upside-down, and, true, it has no shocks. We love the big truck... it is a monster.
Below are pics of our decorated Christmas Tree. We are poor and far from home, so decorations were all made by hand (minus the lights). And while those of you who know me well KNOW that I would NEVER put colored lights on my tree, we put colored lights on it because all the decorations were white and we needed some color. It is very Charley Brown in nature, but we love it all the same. Please note the amazing star Sarah made. It rocks. Thanks to Horeb and Reynerio, it stays up there. :o)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
It's laundry day...
We're at Rick and Tammie's doing our laundry... and when you are at some one else's house doing your laundry, there really isn't much else you CAN do besides wait.
Because I have not been a very faithful blogger in the past few weeks, I decided today would be a good day to catch you all up!
Rick and Tammie came back... YAY! As we all anticipated, there were changes and adjustments to be made, even aside from just moving back to the Second Floor. God is a good God and holds our hands through changes and all is well. We're really excited to be working with Rick and Tammie and it has been great to get to know them better in the last two weeks. Our schedule changed drastically because we are no longer visiting all the churches in the region. It's funny because as crazy as it was to go to church every night, I'm now realizing how much I miss the people from all the different churches. It feels weird to not see everyone at least once a week. I guess you don't realize how much you really appreciate people until you don't see them. (Gee--that doesn't sound famililar at all...)
Instead of hopping from church to church each night, we have been split up (the three of us) between the churches and are working directly with one pastor each to support him and his church. There are now four churches in the Maneadero area that we are working more closely with, and out of those four, each intern has been assigned a church. I am with Faustino and his church, "Camino de Cristo".
In addition to being assigned to a church, the three of us are also going to be teaching English classes at the Boys' Home that was built by short-term teams coming down here and is being run by a member of Faustino's church, Juan. We are still working out the kinks of trying to find a curriculum and resources, but this should be getting off the ground in the next week or two. Please be praying for the boys and for us as we try to figure this out. Sarah has some experience teaching English, and I have teaching experience, but without guidelines, this is kind of a hard task to tackle. Perhaps my teaching training will be my downfall because I need units and organization for the lessons... I'm thinking about this like a teacher. So please be praying for all of us as we figure out how this is going to work.
And apart from all of this, we are helping Rick and Tammie with short-term teams when they are here. It is a really funny dynamic to be the intern on this side of a short-term team and not one of the team-members. We had our first team last weekend and it was a good experience. I definitely have a lot to learn, but I think this is going to be really cool. I was telling Tammie that I was having a hard time separating myself as an intern and not becoming part of the team. I'd really appreciate prayer for that as we have teams coming in--Tammie replied with a resounding "YES!" when I said that because what they need is people to help them run the ministry, not extra short-term team-members. So separating myself and understanding my role as an intern and not a short-termer will be a challenge, but that too will come with time.
In other news... I had a birthday last week. Haha... it was a great day--very sunny! I think this was my first birthday ever in which I wore a T-shirt outside and was sweating... a very strange feeling for November. It was a very different day because we still didn't have internet, so I wasn't able to Skype my mom or sibs... Believe me--this isn't a pity party... I'm actually trying to tell you how wonderful it was to be here on my birthday in spite of all of that! I woke up to quite a few texts from friends here wishing me a very happy birthday, followed by phonecalls and visitors! It was pretty sweet. Then in the evening, we had a surprise birthday dinner at Rick and Tammie's.
I think the best part was the adopted Mexican tradition of the "mordida" (little bite). When it's your birthday, after they sing to you and you blow out the candles, everyone starts chanting "mor-di-DA! mor-di-DA!", meaning they want you to take a small bite out of the cake. I'd seen it once before and they SHOVED the guy's face into his cake... I leaned forward to take a bite, certain of my pending doom, and my face was shmooshed into the cake by Jon (Rick and Tammie's oldest son). For as scared as I was for them to do it, it really wasn't all that bad--other than having icing all over my face and up my nose. For pictures of the lovely evening, check out Sarah's blog. There's a link to the right.
And thus endeth the very short recap of my life in the past two and a half weeks. Things have been crazy, fun, busy, changing, different, and always full of growth! I feel really blessed to be able to serve down here with Rick and Tammie and all these churches. God is showing me a lot about what it means to really serve and to follow Him where He wants us.
Because I have not been a very faithful blogger in the past few weeks, I decided today would be a good day to catch you all up!
Rick and Tammie came back... YAY! As we all anticipated, there were changes and adjustments to be made, even aside from just moving back to the Second Floor. God is a good God and holds our hands through changes and all is well. We're really excited to be working with Rick and Tammie and it has been great to get to know them better in the last two weeks. Our schedule changed drastically because we are no longer visiting all the churches in the region. It's funny because as crazy as it was to go to church every night, I'm now realizing how much I miss the people from all the different churches. It feels weird to not see everyone at least once a week. I guess you don't realize how much you really appreciate people until you don't see them. (Gee--that doesn't sound famililar at all...)
Instead of hopping from church to church each night, we have been split up (the three of us) between the churches and are working directly with one pastor each to support him and his church. There are now four churches in the Maneadero area that we are working more closely with, and out of those four, each intern has been assigned a church. I am with Faustino and his church, "Camino de Cristo".
In addition to being assigned to a church, the three of us are also going to be teaching English classes at the Boys' Home that was built by short-term teams coming down here and is being run by a member of Faustino's church, Juan. We are still working out the kinks of trying to find a curriculum and resources, but this should be getting off the ground in the next week or two. Please be praying for the boys and for us as we try to figure this out. Sarah has some experience teaching English, and I have teaching experience, but without guidelines, this is kind of a hard task to tackle. Perhaps my teaching training will be my downfall because I need units and organization for the lessons... I'm thinking about this like a teacher. So please be praying for all of us as we figure out how this is going to work.
And apart from all of this, we are helping Rick and Tammie with short-term teams when they are here. It is a really funny dynamic to be the intern on this side of a short-term team and not one of the team-members. We had our first team last weekend and it was a good experience. I definitely have a lot to learn, but I think this is going to be really cool. I was telling Tammie that I was having a hard time separating myself as an intern and not becoming part of the team. I'd really appreciate prayer for that as we have teams coming in--Tammie replied with a resounding "YES!" when I said that because what they need is people to help them run the ministry, not extra short-term team-members. So separating myself and understanding my role as an intern and not a short-termer will be a challenge, but that too will come with time.
In other news... I had a birthday last week. Haha... it was a great day--very sunny! I think this was my first birthday ever in which I wore a T-shirt outside and was sweating... a very strange feeling for November. It was a very different day because we still didn't have internet, so I wasn't able to Skype my mom or sibs... Believe me--this isn't a pity party... I'm actually trying to tell you how wonderful it was to be here on my birthday in spite of all of that! I woke up to quite a few texts from friends here wishing me a very happy birthday, followed by phonecalls and visitors! It was pretty sweet. Then in the evening, we had a surprise birthday dinner at Rick and Tammie's.
I think the best part was the adopted Mexican tradition of the "mordida" (little bite). When it's your birthday, after they sing to you and you blow out the candles, everyone starts chanting "mor-di-DA! mor-di-DA!", meaning they want you to take a small bite out of the cake. I'd seen it once before and they SHOVED the guy's face into his cake... I leaned forward to take a bite, certain of my pending doom, and my face was shmooshed into the cake by Jon (Rick and Tammie's oldest son). For as scared as I was for them to do it, it really wasn't all that bad--other than having icing all over my face and up my nose. For pictures of the lovely evening, check out Sarah's blog. There's a link to the right.
And thus endeth the very short recap of my life in the past two and a half weeks. Things have been crazy, fun, busy, changing, different, and always full of growth! I feel really blessed to be able to serve down here with Rick and Tammie and all these churches. God is showing me a lot about what it means to really serve and to follow Him where He wants us.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
time to catch you up... at least a little...
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
21:37 PST
Psalm 103 rocked my world this morning. I want to share with you all the first few verses, but the whole thing really is awesome.
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.
Oooooooh psalm of David. I love the way David lists all these “benefits” of God. It’s funny because when you think about it, they really are all benefits for us—benefits we definitely do not deserve!
As I’ve been reading through 1Samuel, I’m consistently interested in the fact that David has found favor in God’s eyes. In fact, all over the Old Testament, there are people spoken of who prosper because they have found favor in God’s eyes. They seek his face, they obey him, and very often, they do extraordinary things (because God enables them, of course).
As I move through my days, I wonder what the daily life of great men like David or Joseph looked like. Did it look anything like mine looks now? I wonder what Ruth was like and how she came to love her mother-in-law so deeply. Do any of my relationships resemble the faithfulness and commitment Ruth felt? Big things come up in their lives and they have to seek God, but what did a normal day look like for them? What was in their hearts that was so pleasing to God?
All over the Bible, and here in Psalm 103, it says that God loves those who fear him. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him. Ps 103:11 This is not a new concept, and I know that in reading Psalm 103 this morning, it was not the first time this idea was brought up.
Sometimes, I fear, the Bible seems very vague to me. Fear God. Love God. Obey God. Those are all very cut and dry, very clear directions. The grey area enters in when we actually try to live those directions out. What does it look like to fear God? What does it look like to live a life that shows that you love God? What does it look like to obey God?
I find comfort in the fact that He will make my paths straight and reveal to me what He wants from me as He sees fit. I also find comfort in the fact that my path will not be identical to anyone else’s, so I can’t sit here and compare my self to everyone else constantly. It is about God and me, and following Him.
I want to live a life that shows that I love God. I want to love God. I want to be the aroma of Christ.
I think the first steps lie in knowing who God is, and that’s exactly what these first verses of Psalm 103 tell us. God is a God who loves us enough to redeem us from the pit. God satisfies our desires with GOOD THINGS. Knowing those things, knowing him, and relying on His promises, I think are the first steps toward living a life that glorifies him.
Sunday—November 2, 2008
10:02 PST
So we’re back at the SP (Segundo Piso), and we are waiting on TelNor to come and give us our phone line we paid for so we can get internet access. Casey and I are finding, however, that lack of internet boosts our productivity. I’m sure most college students find this to be ridiculously true because while internet access is a must for research and communication in our techie age, it is also a HUGE source of distraction and facilitator of procrastination, especially when there are things to be done!
Being back at the SP means that Rick and Tammie are back! Yay! We have been anticipating their arrival for quite some time now! We love what we are doing, but we are eager to get to work with them and be more involved in ministries. They came home on Friday, and they reminded me of my family. They came in like a whirlwind. They unloaded two very full, very large cars while the kids excitedly took in the familiar surroundings of their home.
I hadn’t realized how quiet our lives had been up until this point. With just Casey and me living in the house, it was a very tranquil existence. Not to say that we were necessarily extremely quiet—you all know that is practically impossible for me. But in comparison to the action that takes place in the house when the Romanos are there, it was a chill life. Kids take life up to a whole different level. I appreciate the vivacity and excitement the Romanos bring. I appreciate the familiarity of their ridiculously crazy existence (meaning the running all over the place, siblings bickering on occasion, and a dull roar always emitting from them as a unit). It feels normal. It feels nice. It feels like a family. Sometimes it brings pangs of longing for my own ridiculously crazy existence with my own family, but knowing that I can get a piece of that here, makes me excited.
Casey and I were discussing a few weeks ago how we really don’t know the Romanos. Yet, we missed them. It is a funny kinship we feel with them already, and still anticipation to build strong relationships with them, just like we’ve built with the Mexican church here. They are such an awesome couple, with such fire, passion, and drive to serve God here. The amount we can learn just by working alongside them is staggering. And even more exciting is the fact that they told us that they are the kind of people who like training and mentoring people in ministry—that’s the kind of heart they have. It just makes me want to know them better.
I would ask that you pray that we have time to do all this. We are realizing how incredibly difficult it is to minister well to six churches and how stretched Rick and Tammie must be. There are so many needs, there is so much going on, and Rick and Tammie are still pushing forward, serving God, and making the ministry stronger and stronger with God’s help.
Fasten your seatbelts everyone… life is about to pick up drastically in pace.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
long time no post...
internet has been dodgey... my computer crashed... :(
i will post soon. have to figure out details.
i'm alive. fear not.
love love love you all.
in the meantime, check out sarah's and casey's blogs for updates on life.
i will post soon. have to figure out details.
i'm alive. fear not.
love love love you all.
in the meantime, check out sarah's and casey's blogs for updates on life.
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