Food for thought

Ugh, I have been sick for a week! I detest colds and sicknesses of all kinds... but especially colds! Still, I suppose one cannot be healthy all the time; life just isn't like that!

Since I have been sick I haven't been doing much. Just hanging out in my house. I don't really know what to write about, but I figured that I might as well write as not, seeing as you all would be wondering what I have been up to.

I did do one NEW thing this week. I got a Facebook account... well, to be more honest, I have HAD a FB account, but I hadn't been on it for more than a year. Now, however, I am planning to keep in touch with all of you "facebookers"!

I have spent most of today reading Anne of Green Gables. I have always loved those books... they make me laugh uproariously, sigh longingly and even cry (once or twice ;) ). I will be sitting on our couch reading and then, suddenly, I will burst out laughing for no apparent reason. I think that my brothers think that I am insane... still, I do like the books!

It seems amazing to me how one moment can change you view on life. Waking up in the morning you look on the day with dread thinking of all the things that you would rather be doing than what you have to do, and the next you are having a marvelous time playing Twister with all your friends! One moment you feel like time drags and you aren't doing anything worthwhile and the next you are so busy doing worthwhile things that you don't have a moment to catch your breath!

I remember a little over a year ago I was going through a tough time and I kept praying to God asking for a change... I didn't really care what the change was, so long as it was a change. I was really unhappy and felt as though I wasn't doing much for God where I was. I promised God that if He was to give me something, anything, I would serve Him with all of my heart. That's when God reminded me of something. He said (not audibly, mind you, but He DID say it),
"I want to give you big challenges and even bigger dreams, but if you aren't content living for Me NOW, where you are, you will never be content in any of the places I would send you."

So, I stood up and walked on, trying to live to the best of my ability NOW, in the present, knowing that no matter where God will send me, it is enough! Isn't it so wonderful that we have a God who loves us despite of our deficiencies!!!

I am rambling, aren't I? Oh well, I suppose that's how I am... I can't help it! I do so like to just write... it's very... how could I put it... relieving. You should try it sometime. Just take a pen and piece of paper and write whatever God puts on your heart!

Update

Hey!! I am so sorry that it took me so long to update you all. One thing just came after another and all of a sudden it was Thursday!!

As far as Ezekiel goes, God has healed him! They went to hospital and they sent him home saying that there wasn't anything seriously wrong with him. Praise God!! Still, keep him in your prayers along with his family, they are all scared that it will happen again.

About the swine flu that is going around in Mexico... please do not worry about us! We always appreciate the extra prayers, but there have been no reported sicknesses in our state. As a clarification, we live in LAS GLORIAS not La Gloria. The main spread of the flu is on the other coast and the bigger cities.
I am not scared for myself, I know that God has control and everything will happen according to His perfect will, but I know that this is affecting a lot of people and plans. Pray that God would take control of the longer term affects of this flu... it might have some serious repercussions, here in Mexico as well as in the States.
Blessings to you all!

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!

To be continued.... whenever I get around to it!

Hello! How are you all doing? I have been doing great. I have meant to write... but anyway, you've all heard that story, it's time to tell you something you don't know!

So, this last week has been busy as usual. Sometimes the usual can make you feel overwhelmed... you ever noticed that?!?! lol
.... I am trying to think where to start.... not getting anything! Let's see...

Right now I am listening to Down Gilead Lane (if you want to listen to it you can click HERE it's free). It's pretty neat! Kind of one of those habits that you just can't get out of ;^) .

As far as my French goes, I have a ton of homework that I have been putting off for the past two weeks that I now have two days left to do. I suppose that I really am pushing it to the last minute, but I honestly didn't realize how little time I had left until I woke up this morning and realized that it was Thursday! AHHH! Needless to say, I have spent a good hour so far and as soon as I finish on my blog I am going to return to my desk. I would still be there but my brain can only handle so much before I get a headache!

Life in my home is the same. It's taken me a week or so to get back into my "schedule", if you want to call it that. It's weird when you are just going, going, going and then all of a sudden it stops and you are back to the hum-drum of everyday life. This week we started back into school. I am so close to being done (like done, as in "out of school for good"). It's interesting thinking about what it will be like to get up in the morning and only have to do my chores.... kind of weird!

We are starting up several new ministries in the church. Well, not "new" persay, but new branches of old ministries. For instance, my Dad has just started study with the young men in our church. God has been doing an amazing work in our church. A little less that 6 months ago there were about 3 youth in the entire church. Now there are 6 and sometimes more! That might not seem like very much, but for this small of a place a growth of 5 people is a miracle!

Alright, I am gonna get to work on all that homework I have to do! I will continue the story... pronto!
See you all soon!

Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Hello dear readers! I apologize for my absence, but I have been very busy. God has been doing some awesome stuff though, and I want to share it with you!

This last week was Semana Santa (roughly translated, Holy Week). For those of you in the States it probably just meant another normal week until the service on Resurrection Sunday, but for Mexicans it means an entire week of vacations. The only thing that I can really compare it to and be accurate is spring break at Palm Beach, Florida. On our beach, it is basically one whole week of drinking and spending money (and earning money for others).

On a normal day Las Glorias is a quiet town with little to no activity. There are only about 13 families that live here year-round. Needless to say, during Semana Santa those numbers swell to thousands and the beach becomes a beehive of vendors and families on vacation. These two pictures will give you a little bit of an idea...

Cars line up for miles near the entrance to our town and it literally takes hours to navigate the streets and get out. For this reason, those of us who live here either walk or stay at home during the week. Sometimes I cannot believe that this mess of cars and people is my home. It is so different! Still, while there are many down-sides to living on the beach during Semana Santa, there are also many benefits, one of which being that it is a wonderful opportunity for ministry!

Over the years, we have experimented with many different kinds of outreaches, showing Christian movies, giving out water with memory verses taped on the cups, evangelizing and handing out tracks, but none of them have worked as well or had such a tremendous response as the one that we did this year. I first saw this drama three years ago when my Dad was involved in the Bible school (A.D.A.P.T. International, located in Boca Del Rio). For the past two years we have been unable to do it for lack of the sufficient number of people.

This year, however, our pastor brought a team down from the States providing us not only with the right number of people, but a team of people who were willing and able to serve God by helping organize the drama. It was a bit last-minute and we had to rush to get the props together, but with the help of Annette and the other girls on the team, we got through it okay, even if the helmets did smell a little... that's just what you get when you rush paper maché!

[I really should stop now to make a special note of Annette. She directed the whole thing and really threw herself into it 150%! Great job, girl, couldn't have done it without you!]

The drama portrays the death of Jesus Christ in a way that literally takes your breath away. I know that there is no way that anyone would ever be able to comprehend the rejection and suffering that Jesus bore, but this skit brought it more into focus than ever before.

We walked the length of the beach and performed the skit 7 or 8 times. At the end of the skit one of the Mexican leaders would stand up and share the gospel message, then lead all those who so desired in a prayer of salvation. After each time we took 20-30 minutes to pray with those who had accepted Jesus as Lord and to share with those who were interested, or with whomever the Spirit lead us to talk!

It was amazing watching God touch lives... grown men breaking down in tears, elderly women coming to us and asking for prayer, and more precious still were all of the children who came up asking us why we were beating the man carrying the cross.

There was one woman in particular whose hands were crippled who came asking us for prayer. One of the brothers (Jose) prayed for her and then we left. The next day when we were walking along the beach, the same lady came running up to the Jose and thanked him for his prayer. God had healed her hands. For man, this might be impossible, but for God all things are possible! Praise be to God!

By His Wounds: Brian Littrel
(ISAIAH 53:5)
He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds
By his wounds we are healed

We are healed by Your sacrifice
And the life that you gave
We are healed for you paid the price
By Your grace we are saved, we are saved

What can wash away my sin
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

More stuff to do than time to do it

I know that I have just been the worst at posting in these last few weeks. Things just seem to swamp me and blogging is the last thing on the list. It's not like blogging isn't important, but it isn't as important as, say, teaching suday school class, or doing my French homework.

As you get older you just get more and more responsibilities. My little sister keeps saying stuff like. "I wish I was as old as you, then I wouldn't have to go to bed so early." Or, "When I am as old as you..." I just tell her to enjoy being young while she can, because you only get it once. I kind of wish I was still young. Don't get me wrong, I really like the new challenges you face as you get older and the deeper knowledge of Christ I have grown to appreciate, but there is something about being young. I guess you would call it "the innocence of youth". It makes me so sad to see how all of these children want to grow up so fast. Our culture encourages it, but in the wrong way. I agree that children should learn to take responsibility, but being responsible and trying to be as grown up as you can as fast as you can, are two totally different things.

I suppose I got a little carried away with writing, but that is just a little bit of the real me coming through! As much as I try there is no escaping the fact that I am who God made me. No more, no less! All I meant to emphasize was that I do have reasons for not being as faithful on my blog as I was previously.

Okay, I need to get going on my stuff. I have a post that is forming in my head, but it's going to have to wait to be written until I have time.
Blessings to you all!
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