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!!!

Another week in life

Busy busy busy! That's been the theme of our lives during the past week. So much to do and so little time! I was just thinking how nice it would be if we could change our week so that there were 8 days every week instead of 7. I think that it might help solve some of my problems, don't you? But seriously, it's been a great couple of weeks, even if they have been a little busy.
We are continuing to go to Los Mochis every Friday for the baseball and cooking classes. I have now officially been put in charge of the little boys while my Dad works with the older ones. The first couple of classes were a little disorganized, but now that I have gotten a little more settled in I feel like the kids might actually be learning something! ;) It's especially nicer now that it's cooled down a little. The first couple of weeks were a little trying in that respect!

As far as anything new goes... *takes a moment to think* ... let's see, I've started reading to my little sis every night. We are halfway through "Anne of Green Gables" and are both enjoying it immensely. Of course, I have read the book several times, but since she hadn't and wanted to I was more than happy to read it over again. There is something special about reading a book aloud. It makes me appreciate the book more somehow.

In the Spanish class that I am giving the boys we are finally into the Preterite Tense (that being one of the simple past tenses). It's one thing to understand how it works, and it's something entirely different when you have to explain it to a class. Still, they must understand what I say, because they seem to be making progress! I can't wait until we get into the Subjunctive! I know, I know, my Mom always tells me that she can't understand why grammar excites me so, but call me strange, I can't help it! ;)

Well anyway, I should be going. Before I do, though, I want to let you see some pictures of the kids in Los Mochis!

This is Alex. He's the littlest one of the bunch that I work with. Don't mistake his size though, he hit with the best of them ;). I don't know exactly what he was thinking when I took the picture, but the look on his face is priceless!


The group of younger boys go to the other side of the baseball field to work on catching and batting.


My Dad explain the correct way to position yourself when catching a ball.

Caleb and my Dad show the boys' group the correct way to throw and catch.


Here's Caleb after 4 hours of baseball... I kind of felt like joining him ;).

These are the two cooking classes that my Mom leads. This particular week they learned about all the different types of grains and then the kids made pop-corn (the old fashion way). It was a delight to see the deaf kids' faces when they felt the kernels popping up into the lid of the pan.



God is good, all the time! May you have a wonderful week!

He has made me glad, He has made me glad!
I will rejoice for He has made me glad!

A Birthday Week

Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Andrew, happy birthday to you!!!!

Andrew is now officially 13 years old. My, how the time does fly! He has had a whole week of excitement; it's been the birthday that just keeps giving!

On Saturday we had some friends over after supper. The boys had spent all day setting up the yard for an airsoft war -- for those of you who don't know what airsoft is, just think shooting at each other with bee-bee guns only with plastic bullets and you'll get pretty close ;). I wish that I would have gotten some pictures of the forts they set up and the trenches they dug (yes, they went all-out), but I guess I was too busy playing to think about it.
Anyway, after supper we set up some flood lights and played for an hour or so. Once we were tired of playing airsoft we laid a rope across the yard and played capture the flag. I haven't had so much fun "playing" for a long time. It was a blast, and I think that Andrew enjoyed himself as well. The highlight of the night must have been the time when I dove through a gap between the trees trying to get away from my brother and land on top of one of those awful Choya Cacti (you know, the ones that people sometimes call the "jumping cactus")... let's not do that again ;). And adding insult to injury, can you believe that they still took me to jail? How rude is that?! ;P
I love having a big family!!! It's great that we only need another four people to make enough to play just about any game we want!

After we had tired ourselves out thoroughly and were quite covered with sand, we all headed inside to eat popcorn and watch a movie. The movie of choice was "How To Train Your Dragon". None of us had seen it yet, so we had a great time laughing together. My official opinion: "How to Train Your Dragon" is a great family movie. Perhaps one of the scenes might be a little scary for kids under 8, but it is very funny and not at all inappropriate. Two thumbs up!

On Sunday we went to church in Tamazula where a friend of ours taught on the Great Commission and what it means to "preach the Word". It was a great reminder of what our true purpose is here on this earth. It's so easy to get caught up in what the world thinks is important or even in thinking that just living a righteous life is enough. We need to be bold and willing to step up and speak when God calls us to speak. Go when God calls us to go. Stay when God calls us to stay. Do what God calls us to do. Let it not be that we should stand before God in the end and have nothing to say for ourselves. Quite a reminder, if you ask me!

After church we went with the Petits and the Graffs (friends visiting from Southern Mexico) to the mall in Guasave where we ate lunch and hung out for a few hours. Caleb and I were able to spend some time with some friends of ours from Guasave who happened to be stopping in for lunch as well. I think that both of us were pretty happy about that ;).
Andrew got the second part of his birthday that evening since my parents had bought ice cream to celebrate. Andrew even got to pick a movie to watch. Guess which one he picked? Give up? "How to Train Your Dragon". Hey! I did say it was a good movie!

Monday -- that being yesterday -- Andrew got his day off from chores (it's this tradition that we have in our family. On your birthday you don't have to do any of your housework. Pretty cool if you ask me) and then in the evening we had our home fellowship group -- plus a few others -- over for a Bible study, Posole (Po-so-lay the traditional Mexican birthday dish made with puffed corn, beef, red chili, and onion and served with shredded cabbage, cilantro, and tortilla chips) and cake. I am so proud of my little brother. He has such a way with people. There is something about him that makes people love him, and it's such a great gift from God! I can't wait to see what God does with Andrew's life!
But wait, his birthday isn't done yet! I still have my present to finish and give him and Grandma's birthday card hasn't arrived quite yet.

Well, I should wrap things up. I'll end my post with a thought from our Bible class assignment for this week.
We were assigned to find five different places in the Bible that talk about friendship and apply them to our lives. I was reading the passage in Daniel 1 where Daniel and his friends stand up for what they believe is right. I was struck by the thought that friends should be willing to stand beside each other and fight for what is right. Friends should spur one another on to righteousness. How often do the actions that I take cause someone else to stumble when I am not willing to stand up with them or speak out for them? Even in the small things, or maybe especially in the small things, I should be willing to make the sacrifice (sacrifice meaning to give up something good for something better) and encourage my friends in righteousness. That is, after all, what God has called us to do.

Proverbs 27:17(NKJV)
As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Perhaps on our own we aren't brave enough to be different, but with a friend beside us how much more willing are we to take a stand?

Back in Mexico... since Oct. 1... ;)

Life is like a mathematical equation. You spend all that time figuring out the answer to the problem only to discover that you plugged in the wrong values and miscopied the original problem to begin with!

This is something that I wrote on my facebook wall a couple of weeks ago. It seemed very appropriate at the moment with all of the decisions that I was making (and unmaking). Needless to say it's been a rather tense couple of months what with trying to sort out ideas, keep up on school-related stuff, helping in various ministries we are involved in, and preparing my class for the kids in Tamazula each week. Quite honestly, the only thing that has allowed me to remain at peace in it all has been knowing that God has the ultimate word and that He loves me, so I can trust Him with my future. It's been a struggle to keep my focus where it should be, but with all of the amazing people God has placed in my life to guide me I have been victorious until now. God is good, all the time!

Along the same lines of being "shaken up"; I am sure that most of you would have heard someway or another about our earthquakes. I guess it happened about two weeks ago now. The final and largest earthquake that hit us was a 6.7. I had never felt anything like it... the whole house shook and then when we went outside the ground felt like it was "rolling" underneath us. Quite a unique experience. Even the car was moving back and forth in the driveway. I would say that pretty much all of us have suffered since from paranoia. I have woken up at least twice during the night feeling like the ground was shaking... of course, it wasn't, but that's beside the point ;^). Thanks to all of you who prayed for us. It was very much appreciated!

On a more normal note, life has been good here in Mexico. The heat finally broke somewhere around the 20th of October would you believe that the temperature gets down to almost 68 degrees at night with only 62% humidity? Just makes you want to shiver don't it? ;P Since it's begun cooling off we have been working like madmen... almost like we're trying to make up for lost time. In some ways I feel like it is lost time, but at least we don't have to do it again until next year!

School has gone well. It's been a little difficult to keep a normal schedule for classes, but, one way or another, everyone is learning! I have picked up my Spanish class with the boys and I feel like it's going a lot smoother. It's been a good learning experience for me... and I am hoping for them as well!
For the present I have stopped my French classes. I'll be taking a different approach to learning. I've already bought one book and a have a few more on my list to buy soon. I think that with all that I have learned up till now I should be more than able to be self-directed... practice, practice, practice! Now all I need to do is move to France... we'll just take it one step at a time ;).

Alright, I'm leaving now to make lunch. See you next time! I think that I am going to get back on top of this whole "posting regular" thing. God bless you all! Take care!

Camping anyone?

Greetings fellow soldiers! I am so excited to be alive one more day! The blessings of my Lord and Savior are so absolutely mind-boggling and amazing that I cannot find the words to express the change and hope and love that He has brought into my life. Every day I am so amazed that He loves me enough to care about me personally... personally enough to answer my prayers and give me strength in the times when the circumstances make me want to give up. It really isn't that God has always given me times of "springtime and harvest" but that no matter what I have gone through He has been faithful. And I am so blessed!

The past week and a half have been great. As I mentioned in my last post, our plan was to leave from the Fitzgeralds' house to a place near Phoenix where we were going to be camping for a week with some good friends of ours. So, after fixing the problems with the trailer axle we left Tucson on Tuesday afternoon heading toward Tonto National Park -- any of you who know what that word means in Spanish can have a laugh at the name ;) -- and the Apache Lake campground. We pulled into the campground around 6:30pm, just as the sun was going down. We had just enough time to pick our spot and set up the tents before the sun was gone. None of us were up much after that anyway, we all pretty much hit the sack as soon as we had eaten a supper (leftovers ;^) ).

First day of our vacation dawned bright and clear. The sky was beautiful and the lake was brilliant blue (btw, that's just a trick of the light... when your really get close the water is actually quite green). We spent most of the day swimming and playing down by the lake as well as playing card games and Boggle (aka, the best game -- almost -- ever). It was so relaxing to be able to do basically nothing for an entire day. We received an extra special treat in that an elderly couple staying in the campsite across from ours took a liking to our family and offered to take us on a tour of the lake in their boat. That was extremely enjoyable. Apparently Ann and Mike had been coming to the lake since the '60s and they knew a ton about the history of all the different lakes, dams and rock formations... very interesting!

Next day our friends arrived and it seemed like the fun was only beginning. Our friends also brought their boat and a bunch of "water toys". You could just see all of the boys' eyes light up... or course I wasn't excited... at all *winks*. Naturally things don't always go exactly as planned. There was a problem with the boat that day and so all of the next day the guys (my dad and Mr. Schneider) spent fixing it. A bit of a frustration, but it was fixed without too much of an ordeal.

I'll just hit the highlights of the rest of the week...
Caleb turned 16. YEAH!! I am so proud of my lil' bro. Or maybe not so lil' anymore ;) . The camping was kind of half-way sorta part of his birthday present since he had really wanted to do something like this during our trip.

Everyone who wanted to (that means everyone but the moms and Evie) got to have a go at wakeboarding. Neither Andrew nor I were able to get up, but all the rest of our crew did... grrrr... the older sister mentality just totally rebels against the idea of my brothers being able to show me up... "My give up, my give up".







There they go...



Three of the young people (Seth, Jessee, and Madison) got baptized on Sunday afternoon. So exciting to watch them grow in the Lord. It was also a great time of fellowshipping and singing together. We even had a chance to share with some of our neighbors through it. Awesome opportunity!











And here are some random camping photos...





This is a really cool cave that is located on the lake about 4 miles from our campsite. The plan was the achor the boat and jumping out to go exploring, but it wasn't to be. The last day, after a week of perfect weather, we had a pretty amazed rainstorm. We all got very wet and the water got too choppy for us the achor so close to the shore... and the sharp rocks!



The boys had the chance to play airsoft several times... they really looked the part with their camouflage outfits and guns ducking in and out behind the trees. It was fun to watch... but not enough to make me want to join in. Too much pain involved.

The final night before our friends left we played together (drums, guitar, and voice) and had a great time. As we were playing several of our neighbors stopped by to listen. We invited them to sit down by the fire with us. Eventually we had about thirty people in our campsite just listening and enjoying the Christian worship music we were playing. Isn't that amazing?! So neat how God works!

Now we are in Woodland, CA. We won't be here too long, just for a couple of days. I did miss a few days in between, but I'll have to catch you all up later because we are running late for a church event and I gotta go!
Blessings!

Yet another trip

Hello fellow peoples! Glad to see that you stopped by! As some of you might have guessed, we are now in the USA (Tucson, AZ to be precise). We got in last night about 9pm... it was a very very very long trip. Oh, and did I mention that it was long? We left our house in Mexico at 4am with every intention of arriving in Arizona by 6pm at the latest. Funny how plans go awry!

On Friday the two little boys went back to Los Mochis, leaving us busily getting ready for our trip. All day Saturday was spent packing, cleaning, and cooking (food for the trip). Originally the plan was to leave on Monday morning, but after having spent all day Saturday working we were so close to being done that we voted on it and decided that it would just be a lot nicer to leave the next morning. And so the plan was laid!

On our way out of Las Glorias yesterday morning, we picked up a lady who was going to ride with us up to Nogales. The first few hours were fairly normal. Pretty much everyone slept (except for my dad, of course) while the road stretched on and the villages and towns flashed by. Then coming up upon Navojoa we stopped at a toll booth to check our load. My dad got out of the car and walked back to check the straps on the trailer only to walk back a minute later saying that we had a serious problem. I was kind of dozing during all of this so I only caught snatches of the conversation mixed with weird dreams of car problems and past trips. When I did finally wake up enough to become somewhat coherent, it was an hour later and my dad and brothers were across the road at the train tracks trying to bend back the trailer axle that had apparently been bending under the weight of the load. Right. Just another minor detail ;).

So after another hour or so of that -- my dad bent back the axle, flipped it over and put it back on -- and after shifting the load more to the van we were on our way. Unfortunately (or providentially, however you want to look at it) we only made it about 45 minutes down the road before we realized that the problem with the axle had not been fixed and that we would have to do something soon or the axle would bend again. So we stopped, undid all of the straps, and unloaded everything from the trailer into the van just leaving a few of the lighter things in the back. And with that we were back in the car, though packed in a little tighter than before.

That delay cost us about 3 hours. Normally, after all that, you would think that we would be able call it a rather eventful trip and drive the rest of the way without incident... but it was not to be. I don't know exactly how much time passed between the two things, but I think it was like an hour later when we stopped for gas and realized that one of the tires on the trailer had picked up a nail... and needed to be patched. Okay, now all we had to do was find a tire shop. We did find one a short way down the road. I do have to admit that, as bothersome as patching a tire is wherever you are, fixing it in Mexico is a million times easier than fixing it in the US. It took less than 30 minutes for the whole thing and only cost us $4. Meanwhile, Luz (the lady riding with us), my mom and I were laughing over what an insane trip it had been so far. She was amazed at how calm we were able to be, and we had a chance to let our lives speak Jesus' love to her.

Now of course we should have been able to finish the trip smoothly, right? Wrong! In all in the years that we have traveled to and from Mexico we have never been unpacked and searched. God obviously had some plan for us this time, because at the inspection station in Santa Ana (4 hours before the border) we were stopped and asked to unload everything. Everything? Like "everything" everything? Yes, everything. Oh dear. This was at about 4pm. Keep in mind that we had only slept about 5 hours the night before and had been up since 3am. We were all really ready to be done traveling... but things don't always go the way we plan. So we did unload everything, run all of it through inspection, and then load it all back up. We were able to share Jesus with the soldier on duty. He seemed like he was carrying a lot of hurt and hatred; pray for him, that God would be doing His marvelous work in his life.

The last 6 hours did go smoothly. We left Luz in Nogales with her sister and were on to the border. We prayed for no problems at the border and God answered our prayer by giving us a really nice lady to do the inspection. We didn't have to wait at the border more than an hour. As I mentioned at the beginning of my post, we arrived in Tucson at 9pm. We were tired, sore and extremely thankful for God's faithfulness throughout our trip. Often we can't see God's plans at the time, but it is enough to know that He's there and that nothing happens in vain. It was a long trip, yes, but all in all I feel blessed, and I regret nothing that happened. God is good, all the time! And His grace is sufficient!

Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.