In Everything give thanks

Well now, it seems as though I missed a few weeks there.... oh, bother! I did intend on writing such a lovely post on Thanksgiving. When that didn't happen I figured that I would still write the post only I would do it the Thursday after Thanksgiving (makes sense, right?)... obviously, that didn't happen either. Now I can't really undo what I didn't do to begin with, but I am thankful, and even though I missed the holiday, I can still express it!

It would take more of your time than you have to give me to tell you all I am thankful for. My God is SO BIG that to write down everything that He has done in my life and in the life of my family would be next to impossible! That said, know that the following is merely the overflow of a grateful heart:

God built our house this year! I will never forget the amazing way God caused everything to fall into place. I praise the Lord for the lives of everyone who was involved in completing the project. It has been such a blessing to us!

Praise God for changes. It's been a year full of them. Lots of shifting of focus ministry-wise and in our weekly schedule has caused some interesting results. Though at times changes can cause pain, like building muscles, in the end we come out stronger and more complete. For this reason, I am confident that, "He who has begun the good work will perfect it." (Phil 1:6)

Praise God for languages! I have loved and continue to love the intricacy and beauty of written and spoken language. The French lessons I was able to continue during part of this year were an unhoped-for blessing. It's so amazing how God knows all of our deepest wishes and desires!

Praise God for friends. There is no greater joy than to worship the Lord in unity with your brothers and sisters! Aren't you so glad that God didn't create us to walk life's road alone?
For all you, my friends: You guys are awesome and amazing sons and daughters of God! You have all been such an encouragement to me over the years. May the Lord return to you tenfold the blessing you have given to me!

Praise God for family! I love my family to pieces, and I am so glad that God saw fit to lend them to me for awhile ;) !

God has been so very faithful in everything over the past year that I couldn't express it adequately with words. I am truly so joyful in the knowledge of my God. Day by day my Heavenly Father has been teaching me to find my everything in Him, to take joy in the simple things and "be content with such things as I have". I have fallen more and more in love with my Creator each and every day. The joy I have inside just makes me want to jump and yell and cry and then go hug someone! It's at these moments that I realize that this world really is rapidly fading, and I ask myself, "Why are you so caught up?" I am reminded of the words of Paul the apostle writing to Timothy and admonishing him to run with endurance the course/challenge/life that had been set before him. "Don't get entangled in the affairs of this world," said Paul, "Run like an athlete. Discipline yourself and run so as to win!" (2 Tim. 2)

So, as we go into the Christmas season and the new year remember this.

Life is a journey and no matter which road you take you'll end up in front of God in the end. Every one of us will give an account of his travels. The Bible says that many are called and few are chosen. Rest assured in the forgiveness of God, but RUN SO AS TO WIN! (1 Cor. 9)

May all the glory be to God forevermore!!!

Week ten

To the computer I have returned! It's been quite a long spell since I have graced my blog with my presence... but I suppose that all that is past now. There is no time like the present time to remedy my absence! Alright, alright, I am done being eloquent! Now I'll just tell you all how my week went!

Last Saturday was our Thanksgiving celebration here at the house. It was great fun. My family came up for the day along with some friends of ours who were visiting. All morning the kitchen was filled with the banging of pots and pans as we prepared what was to be the best Thanksgiving meal of all time (well, I exaggerate, but it was supposed to be pretty wonderful)! By two o'clock our preparation was done and we all sat down -- or paced around -- waiting for our guests to arrive. As is usually the case in Mexico, everyone was late and everyone arrived at the same time! The afternoon then pretty much proceeded as most Thanksgiving afternoons are want to do. We all ate a lot more than we could hold comfortably and then sat around talking and telling stories of "funny things long past". It was so nice! I especially appreciated the fact that I didn't have to make this the first Thanksgiving away from family!

After things had settled down and desserts had been served -- those were really good, btw -- a large group of us decided to take a walk around the block(s). We were all pretty tired and when you get a whole bunch of tired people together you tend to get goofy... you can probably picture how it went. We ended up singing one of those "there's a hole in the bottom of the sea" type songs... I laughed harder than I had laughed in weeks!

On to Sunday! Sunday was church in the morning, of course, and then after lunch we had a special treat in the the team leader (Greg Wilke) decided to take everyone -- kids included -- to the beach. I live on a beach at home, but there is something different about going with friends... anyway, I had a great time. We played ultimate frisbee which was awesome. I hadn't played in forever. It had been long enough that the last time I remembered playing I had been the little girl running from one end of the field to the other and never getting the frisbee ;) ! This was the first time, I think, that I have played ultimate frisbee and enjoyed it!

After the game everyone decided to go swimming and Desiree -- one of the girls helping out at the school -- and I walked to the car to get something. We got back just in time to hear that her brother had gotten stung not once but twice by a stingray! We prayed over him, but he was in serious pain, poor guy, and that's about when we decided it was time to leave -- it was getting dark anyway. We stopped by a Red Cross clinic to get a shot for Judah to help with the pain. Praise God, by the next morning Judah was stiff, but other than that just fine.

The rest of the school week went fairly smoothly. No major accidents and nothing super-exciting to tell about. All of my students are doing very well, though I am getting a little bit frantic looking at everything I want to cover in the next two weeks before school lets out! As we near the end of the term it seems like time is flying. Some many things to do and so little time to do it... yet most of it seems to be getting done!

This last weekend I was able to participate with my Dad in a scheme to surprise Mom with a weekend away for my parents' anniversary. The plan worked perfectly. Desiree accompanied me on the bus back to my house where I was able to see the stunned face of my Mom when I walked in the door. It was so much fun!!! Anyway, they left and then we (Desiree, my siblings and I) stayed behind to hold down the fort... and do some cleaning! I don't think that my brothers we too excited about having to clean on Saturday, but they bore it like troopers and it was all done in no time! On Sunday afternoon my parents came back and then took Desiree and I into town so that we could catch the next bus to Los Mochis.

And now you are caught up! I didn't tell you everything that there is to hear, but I don't think that you really want to hear about all the little boring details... though I suppose that if you do you could send me an email! I guess I will leave off now. Time flies and naptime for the kiddos is almost up!

How about I close with a verse that really struck me in my reading this morning.

Luke 10

⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me."⁴¹But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; ⁴²but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Week nine

Good morning (or whatever time this is that you are reading my post)! I hope that you have had great week and an awesome Thanksgiving. We haven't really celebrated Thanksgiving yet, but the plan is the have a big meal today. I am excited for many reasons, but ranking high on the list is that my family is going to be coming! I wasn't looking forward to spending Thanksgiving without them, and now I won't have to!

This past week has been quite nice. With the team that came from the States, there has been a little less stress and we are definitely able to accomplish more in a day. There are two girls who are staying here at the house and helping out with the kids, and then there are eight guys who are staying out at the school and building what will soon be the new house. It's exciting to see all of the progress they have made. Their goal is the get the house finished enough to move into by Christmas. That's so cool!!! God truly is amazing and it's great to see how He meets needs!

As far as my class goes, this week has brought some different changes and new challenges. My class has been moved back out into the open room because of all the construction. I wasn't sure how I would like it at first, but I moved to a different place than where I was before and I haven't had to deal with too much distraction.

My students are all making progress in their strong suits, but all of them still have things to work on. Estefania is improving by leaps and bounds in her reading and Juan Jesus (J.J.) is get ever so much better in Math. Mishelle is doing great in her cursive and I think that I can finally move her on to the next book. Andres is improving on his reading aloud -- it's so fun to listen to him trying to put the accent on the right place in the sentence! Juanito is doing great. I can't even believe that he is the same kid that I started the year with. It's so encouraging to see the improvement that he has made in the last few weeks! God is so good! Cinthya I am still struggling with to find a system of learning that is suited to her. She has improved, but not as much as I would like to see. I really just need some more time with her. Please pray that God would continue giving me wisdom as I teach His children!

Thursday was youth group and I had the chance of attending after... wow... three weeks of not going! It was really great to see all of my friends again and I felt like I learned a lot from the study. We are still working in the study "One True God". The thing I like most about the study is that it's kind of like proving Theorems. If you have ever done Geometry you'll know what I am talking about. In the study you are presented with a truth and then given verses that prove the truth, but you have write out how they prove the truth. I like this way much better than most other forms of study I have seen over the years. It really makes you think about what you are reading!

Yesterday we had our first serious "school accident" involving kids of the year. Mishelle (my student, though she does have the same name as Michelle, co-director of the school) fell while playing tug-a-war and got a nice cut on her head. It wasn't anything really serious, but her parents came and got her and took her to get some stitches. I am hoping that they don't see it necessary to keep her home from school this Monday.

Well, other than that it has been a pretty average week. I feel absolutely and wonderfully blessed by all the women I work alongside and God has truly been giving me the strength necessary to face every new day! I pray that you have a blessed week!

Matthew 6:31-34

³¹"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' ³²"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

In Everything give thanks!

1 Thessalonians 5:18

In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Thanksgiving has come upon us again! I can't believe how quickly time has passed and how much my life has changed. I remember Thanksgiving in the States... and Thanksgiving here in Mexico... but this will be my first Thanksgiving away from home. It is kind of strange. I have been such a house-body all of my life and most of my memories are with my family. As I have been here at the school I have begun to form my own memories that are somehow apart from my family and I guess that this Thanksgiving will be one of them.

I have always loved Thanksgiving more than most other holidays because of the wonderful history behind it. I just love the idea of setting aside a day of the year to get together as a family and thank God for His grace and all the good things that He has done in our lives throughout the year. Because, honestly, how often do you sit down and really consider all of the things that God has blessed you with? If we all focused more on what we have and less on what we want, we would all realized just how fortunate we are.

That's why I want to dedicate this post to remembering God's goodness. As I was thinking about what to write I picked up my Bible and looked up the word "'thanksgiving". I was amazed at the amount of verses I saw. Here are a mere handful of what I found.

Psalm 95:1-5

1O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,

Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.

2Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,

Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

3For the LORD is a great God

And a great King above all gods,

4In whose hand are the depths of the earth,

The peaks of the mountains are His also.

5The sea is His, for it was He who made it,

And His hands formed the dry land.

Psalm 92:1-2

1It is good to give thanks to the LORD

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

2To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning

And Your faithfulness by night.

Psalm 28:7

The LORD is my strength and my shield;

My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped

Therefore my heart exults,

And with my song I shall thank Him.

1 Chronicles 16:8-9

8Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;

Make known His deeds among the peoples.

9Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;

Speak of all His wonders.

Here's my list of things that I want to thank God for this year:

• My family. As always, my family has been such an enormous blessing in my life. They are such a great group!
• My friends. I couldn't individually mention any of them because they are all such wonderful people. I have truly been given above and beyond what I deserve in this respect!
• Food to eat and roof under which to sleep.
• Computers! It has been so awesome being able to keep in contact with all my friends near and far.
• Those little moments that make life so special. I feel so loved when God not only gives me what I need, but more than I could ever ask for in precious memories and beautiful moments!
• Being apart from my family. It's been hard, but it has taught me to value free time and family.
• For not having. It has taught me to appreciate little things more than I used to.
• God's provision of daily needs.
• For long walks on the beach during which I have learned to understand the worth of a "time in the desert".
• For trials. As God's Word says, tribulations produce perseverance and perseverance a proven character (Romans 5:3).
• For my Bible. I have come to see it as my best friend!
• For music. It's one of God's best gifts!
• For those who have gone before. It's such an encouragement to be able to see how others were able to go through the same things I am dealing with and, through God's grace, come through victorious!
• For hard situations in which I have felt under-qualified. They have taught me to rely more on God's grace and less on my own resources.
• For my Savior's willingness to die for my sins. That is the greatest gift and most precious blessing of all!!!

Before I finish this post I want to challenge you to stop what you are doing for a moment, grab a pen and paper and write down 10 things that God has blessed you with. Once you finish that, write down 5 things that have happened in your life in the past year (or more) and what God has taught you through them. When we give thanks to God we need to remember that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). That means that you can look at the bad things too and God WILL have them work together for good... it might be hard to see that now, but you can trust in His promises!

I pray that you take the time this Thanksgiving, amid all the hustle and bustle of festivities, to sit down and remind yourself of how awesome a God you serve!

Urgent: Please Pray!!

Hello my friends!
I am still a little shaken by what has just happened, but I know that many of you would want to know what is going on. So... I will try and relate the circumstance just as it happened...

Today after church I was mulling about while trying half-heartedly to get everyone into our car so we could head home when a friend pulled up in front of the church. She had been away studying to be a nurse and was back in town to visit family. I walked out to the car to say hi and we began talking. Our of the corner of my eye I saw Briseyda running toward her house and wondered why, but I didn't think much of it.
My Mom came up behind me and I turned to ask her a question when, suddenly, there was a commotion over at the sister Gloria's house (for those of you who don't know, the sister's house is right across from the church). There were two men and five women gathered around something and most of them were yelling and crying.

What could be the matter? I started toward them but before I arrived I saw what the commotion was about. One of the women held Ezekiel in her arms and from what I could tell, he wasn't breathing. My Mom and I rushed over, along with our friend. Our friend grabbed the baby in her arms while asking if anyone knew what had happened, had he eaten something? what?

I began to pray and I know that I wasn't the only one. I felt so useless, what could I do? Nothing. Just pray.

Our friend performed mouth-to-mouth on the baby and the reason for his choking became evident. He began coughing up phlegm. Then Ezekiel began to cry, weakly, but he did... I have never been so happy to hear the sound a baby crying. At this point Sergio and Briseyda (the parents) came with their car and we able to tell them that Ezekiel was fine... the look of terror on their faces when the arrived made me want to cry... horrible. The baby had been sick with a cold for awhile, but no one had ever thought it would get this serious. We then proceeded to pray for him, by this time the incident had drawn a large group of friends and curious onlookers.

When we finished praying Sergio went with Luz and Briseyda to take the baby to the hospital.
Talking over the event later it turned out that Pily and I had both had visions of death about Ezekiel earlier on in the day. Mine was more like a passing thought, but it was scary.


Please pray for the swift healing of Ezekiel. Pray that his parents won't be too scared for him and that God would give them His peace. I will keep you all updated on what's happening.
Thank you all so much! I really appreciate your prayers!

A Post of Thanks

Wow!! Don't the days pass quickly!! It seems like merely yesterday that my Dad got back from his trip to the States, but here we are almost in December. Oh my goodness!
So, what's been going on in my life here in Mexico? That is such a great question... what have I been doing?

Well, I have been thinking a lot this past week! You know, the "What does God have for my life?" kind of questions. Not much in the way of an answer, just a bunch of ideas! But, I know that God will tell me sooner or later (I would much prefer sooner than later) what He wants!

My French lessons are still going on. Sometimes I feel like I do not have the time if day to be able to do everything that I have committed to. God is good, however!

I am planning on beginning an English class for a few of the leaders of our church. Pray that God would give me wisdom and understanding for teaching them. It will be a rather new experience for me, so I will be learning along with them at the same time.

Thanksgiving is upon us again! This year I think it will be just us celebrating as a family. We had thought about inviting some of our friends, but it is kind of an American holiday (okay, really an American holiday) and they don't recognize it here! :D
We are all looking forward to the surprise cheesecake that my Mom has planned for us!!

Christmas is also coming and with the season comes all of the excitement and anticipation! We have an extra blessing this year in the form of some very good friends who will be coming down to visit us! It is sch a wonderful gift form God. We had been hoping and praying for so long!! We have many things planned for while they are here including a New Years dinner for the local village. Also, we (the teachers of the kids classes: Karen, Mavil, Berlinda, Armida and myself) are planning a big party for the children of the village. It's kind of a tradition we have in the church. I have had the blessing and privilege of participating for three years now (counting this one).
Along with the season comes the cool weather that has been so elusive!! I know that this sounds very much like what I wrote a few posts back but I don't know how many times in these past few weeks we have been hoping that the weather would just change! It finally has. Well, it is still kind of warm in the day, but in the evening it gets down to a whopping 80* with only 60 percent humidity!! Freezing for us. Yeah! (HeeHee :P)

So, in conclusion I am going to write 10 things that the Lord has done for me in this past year...

God has provided me with the funds necessary for me to attend a language school.

God has allowed me to begin teaching the adolecent girls' class.

God has provided me with wonderful and encouraging people as my friends.

God allowed me to visit my grandparents last furlough to the States.

God has increased my desire to follow his will in all things!

God has given me another year of life!

God has given me more pacience with my siblings and I am privileged to be able to watch them grow in Him.

God has continued to increase my understanding of Spanish.

God has give me a passion for music and this year he has allowed me to participate in the worship group of our church.

God has provided everything that I or my family need.

So, I must simply say that God is good!! He has given me so much that the very least I can do is give it back to Him!

Psalm 100
3Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.