Cool finds

Sarah's dad came down on Friday to visit.  With him, he brought a fun-loving attitude, a very cool convertible, and a book that had been written about a couple building a house on the Baja peninsula, very close to where I live.  He happened upon the story as he was researching the beach down in this area, and the book, as it turns out, is a pretty good read!  

The book, God and Mr. Gomez, takes place between LA and Santo Tomás, the town in which the Boys' Home is located.  It's a true story, and a point of interest for me because I am so familiar with the places the author talks about.  

At one point, he describes the drive down the coast from Tijuana to Ensenada.  He paints such a wonderful picture that I can't help but share.  For those of you who will not make it out here, I hope this gives you an idea:

We took the road that skirts Tijuana, running west along the border to the Pacific, where it passes the seaside bullring and melds into the Ensenada toll road.  The toll road is a divided freeway, a sound and artistic piece of engineering, with two lanes going south and two north along the spectacular Pacific coast.  The road is edged with indigenous crushed lava of a magenta color, and in the spring there are banks of red and yellow flowers.  It cuts through low costal hills above the ocean, turning away from one stunning seascape only to discover yet another.  The toll is collected at three stations, totaling $2.40 for each car going all the way to Ensenada.  It is too much money for the local traffic, so the road is never crowded, and driving it on a good day is like flying in a small airplane a hundred feet above the seashore.  

The book was published in 1974, so some things are not exactly as described.  The toll prices doubled and I'm not sure the lava is still the same vivid magenta he describes, but at least it gives you an idea.  

I love that drive.  When we drove FPC up this last time, the sun was setting as we drove along the ocean.  I'd seen the sun set here, but never like I did that day.  It made the drive that much better.  I appreciate how breathtaking it was to first take the drive down and just stare out the car window, but I appreciate even more how the view doesn't get old.  

While Mr. Roney was here, we also went downtown to walk around.  It was great because we went into a lot of the places we've said we wanted to go into for a long time.  One of the cool, almost serendipitous finds was an old hotel that had been transformed into a rustic furniture store.  Walking around in there was almost like walking through a museum, but with a lot of great style.  I love old buildings, and part of me wishes this one had been restored a little better, but I guess it's roughness keeps with the rustic style of the furniture.  

Among our cool finds was a tiny museum in one of the beautiful government buildings we had been longing to explore.  It explained a lot about the indigenous history of Baja and gave some cool "then and now" information on Ensenada.  Apparently there are two ballrooms in the building; regrettably we did not get the chance to explore them.  But if anyone is looking for a wedding venue, it comes highly recommended and very fairly priced!  There was a gift shop at the end of the museum, and it had the lowest museum store prices of any I have ever been in.  There were quite a bit of artesanías that caught my eye, and Sarah and I were continually baffled at how little they were asking for all of them!  

I had forgotten how much I enjoy exploring places.  Ensenada had lost a little bit of its magic for me since I've been here for 8 months, but by letting curiosity lead us, and not a planned agenda, I feel that we were able to look beyond the cruise ships and tourist traps, and see Ensenada's charm again.  

Crash into me

I had the blessing of having FPC Moorestown come visit Ensenada last week.  It was a tiny team of 8.  As a high schooler, it never occurred to me that the size of our teams were "small".  It was all I knew.  Looking back, and even on this past week when Moorestown was here, I like the intimate dynamic of a small team.  

My lovely and intelligent mother had a really great insight: As she was reflecting on the struggles and joys of the team working together, the obstacles they had to overcome for their common goal, the lessons they learned, and how they all grew, the parallel of the group with the 12 disciples came to mind.  As a team, the disciples worked and lived together, all following the same Man, trying to understand what He was teaching.  As each disciple was completely human and not at all God (unlike their leader), there is no doubt that there were problems every single day for and between the group.  The mission team was a team of 8, and they were amazed at the dynamics of the group--just imagine 4 more in the mix!  

The cool thing about the disciples being together was that they had Jesus in their midst, so he could take each teachable moment and stretch his disciples.  

The cool thing about the short-term team being together is that they have the Holy Spirit within them to convict, discipline, correct, and stretch the team members.  

At the end of the day, within both groups, the goal is to glorify God and to keep our eyes fixed on He who is in charge and knows the whole story, trusting that He can do it better than we can.  

I appreciated that insight.  

However, that was not the point of this post.  The point, is to share what an extraordinary experience it was to have my two worlds collide for a week.  I think more than anything else, I really appreciated the relationships that were built between the FPC team and the people here.  Both sets of people are those that I dearly love.  I talk about one to the other all the time, but there is something so much more powerful in knowing the person you're being told about.  When I tell Faustino and Tomasa stories about my mom, they can picture her in their heads as I share.  Vice versa--people back at home know who I'm talking about when I say that Roxsy, Ricardo's wife, came over and taught me how to make ensalada de nopales.  

I thoroughly enjoy the fact that these two worlds that were previously so separate and unknown to one have now united, even if it was only for a short time.  As people here ask about people from home and share memories they have of those people, it brings home a little bit closer.  I'm certain the reverse will occur as well, when I return to Jersey.  Being able to share my heart and experiences with people who know the world I'm in right now will be encouraging and will make the transition a little easier.  

This unity means so much more to me than I know how to express.  So to all of you who came, thank you.  To all of you who will hear their stories, thank you.  And to all of you who read this little blog and see my experience through my lens, thank you.  

Here are a few pictures I swiped from Jenny Wittmer :)  ENJOY!

This is outside the Church and in front of Faustino and Tomasa's church.  We were handing out sidewalk chalk.  They had a blast with it!  Very cute idea.
La familia Diaz.  This was taken Easter Sunday after church.  This is Sofía's family.  Some members of the group were able to go to Sofía's house for the prayer ministry.  Now I think they appreciate her almost as much as I do.  Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but they do LOVE her!    
We got to support Sofía's family by buying bags and bracelets from her and her mom.  This is Sofía and her mom and the loom her mom uses to make the bags.  

Props to Jenny for a GREAT picture!  This is Jamin jumping in to jump rope with the kids at VBS.  Jamín is always down for a good time and has such a fun-loving spirit about him.  It does not surprise me at all that he is caught red-handed playing with the kids and loving EVERY SECOND!