Episode two: Unless the Lord builds the house

Delayed! I've been delayed! Seems to be the story of my life! Well, last time I wrote I promised to continue the story and so I will... though it be two months after the fact!! I know that someday I will be back to writing in the present tense!

New Year's day found my dad and me traveling up toward the US/MX border with our friends on our way to Tucson, AZ. The trip was long and mostly uneventful with only a couple of stops to change drivers and a little bit of delay at the border. Up until this point my dad had been working nearly non-stop on getting our upstairs ready to begin laying the roof (for any of you who might have missed when I said that we began construction on our house you can read about it HERE). The day we left the house looked about like this...

Anyway, my dad and I had headed up to Tucson in order to meet up with a team that was coming down to help us put the roof up for our second story. The team originated on a forum conected to a blog called THE REBELUTION. There were 8 people who ended up coming down on the team and every one of them -- well, except for the two who were father and son -- came from different states in the US. It was awesome seeing God pull together such a mixed group! The story of how God brought the whole thing together is amazing, and if you haven't heard it just drop me a note and I'd be more than happy to share!

We arrived in Tucson on the 2nd of Jan. in order to meet with up with the group on the 3rd. We did meet up with them and had a chance to pray together and go over some "dos and don'ts" for the bus ride ahead. At about 7:30pm we headed over to the bus station and we were off!

The bus ride was long, and I won't go into to detail about it. Suffice to say that we got off the bus in Guasave around 9:30am and my mom and the rest of my family were there waiting. The rest of that day went by quickly what with settling in and getting to know one another and, for the guys, working on construction.

On Tuesday everyone swung out of bed and hit the ground running. It might have been stressful, but, praise God, our focus was on Him, and rather than being stressful through the long hours of work it was just productive! Every morning we had the opportunity to start our day right by spending time in the Word. I think that that, more than anything, is what made the trip an absolute success.

So, Tuesday through Thursday was almost totally jam-packed with constuction...

And more construction...

And more construction...

And even a little bit of plumbing! In this picture Hillary and I had just finished changing the kitchen faucet. I had never done a project like this before, so it was a new experience!

On Thursday we -- the girls -- spent several hours packing gift bags for children a migrant worker camp we were going to be visiting later on that week. It was a lot of fun putting together the gifts and trying to decide what age each toy would be best for. In the end I know that God worked everything out just right!

Saturday we had the chance to participate in what was our second year of Operation Christmas Child. It was really great to be able to get the team involved in this and it was a big blessing to me as well. More than anything, though, it was neat to see the smiles on the children's faces!

Sunday after the church service we drove over to the camp where we had just recently started a church. Some of you may remember reading about it in my LAST POST but those of you who haven't might want to hop over there for a look-see. Anyway, we were able to share a short message from the Bible along with a drama that we had prepared for the children. After that we handed out the gift bags to the younger children -- didn't upload any pictures of that or of the drama, unfortunately ;). God really blessed our time with the people and since then has been working mightily in the lives of our new brothers there at the camp.

The team left on Monday the 11th. Right before we loaded up in the car to take them to the bus station we took some pictures of the finished result of their work...

Hurray! for the faithfulness of our God who CAN do all things!

Two days after they left, a cement truck came out to pour the roof. It was very loud and much faster than doing it by bucket -- which is how we did the roof on the bottom story. We were a far cry from being "done" with the upstairs, but we were well on our way to having our house finally finished!!

I know that anyone who was actually here for the week that I just finished summing up would call me on a thousand little details I missed, and I'll even admit that I didn't include even close to half. What with water fights and prayer walks on the beach and Bible studies together and walking around downtown Guasave and sharing meals together and laughing together and singing and seeing the steadfastness of God throughout it all, I could never write down everything that happened that week. It is enough to say that God did a work, and I don't think that anyone who went through it with us came out unchanged!

I am going to end this post with a verse that God seems to have given us as a promise during these past few months. It just serves as a reminder of how great God is and how worthy He is of EVERYTHING! May God richly bless and strengthen you in your faith for His name's sake!

Psalm 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.

Episode One: And Into the New Year

Greetings to all my faithful readers! After a wonderfully blessed and extremely full holiday season, I am back to tell it all! Since there is so much to share and I would like, finally, to be able to post pictures as well, I am going to try your patience a little and tell the whole story of these last weeks over a series of posts. You know, like those stories that you sometimes find in newspapers that make you wait till the next edition to find out whether or not the hero makes it out of the death trap… though, of course, I doubt my story will be so suspenseful nor quite so interesting, yet I will still attempt to render my tale pleasant to all those inclined to read it!
Anyhoo, let’s start at the beginning!!!!

The last time I wrote, Christmas was almost upon us and everyone was busily making presents, hiding finished presents and preparing for the arrival of our friends from Tucson, AZ. Well, I am extremely pleased to say that our friends arrived safely and without too many troubles along to way. I say not too many because they did end up making the 13 hour trip in 20 hours…. But that is not a story I am inclined to tell as of right now *winks and smiles*. Suffice to say that they got in around 2 o’clock the morning of the 24th.

The next day (or should I say later on that same day) being Christmas Eve was spent in a happy buzz of activity as everyone hurriedly finished wrapping and stashing presents and then sat down to spend time catching up with our friends. That evening we went over to our church for our somewhat-traditional, annual Christmas Eve dinner. We arrived at about 4pm with every intention of being back at our house by 10pm, but one thing after another happened…
We played games…

Worshipped together…

Broke bread together…
And we were so content just to be there and fellowship with the brethren that by the time we had a chance to look at a clock it was 12:30am and definitely past our hoped for time of departure!

NAVIDAD (Christmas Day)

Christmas morning was exceedingly nice. I have so many fond memories of that time in the morning… the younger kids’ eyes gleaming excitedly, having, of course been up for at least an hour waiting for the clock to strike 7 to be able to sing the good morning song to Mom and Dad, they themselves looking happy but a little disheveled still rubbing the sleep from their eyes. I for many years now, though just as excited as my siblings, in an attempt to appear mature, sit passively by, smiling on. This Christmas brought back all the same pictures, though adding to them something more in the joy that everyone had in such abundance. I have seen before – having fallen into the trap numerous times – how discontented one can be when the main focus of the holiday is to receive…yet when all that becomes insignificant, the true joy of giving and of receiving comes.

These were my gifts to my siblings. I think that they had fun with them… aside from the fact that they were continually setting them down and getting them hopelessly tangled!

This year, amongst the comings and goings of friends and family and the brotherly discussions over our traditional Christmas brunch I felt truly blessed beyond compare! Praise God!

The rest of the week passed very quickly. With our friends we had an excursion to downtown Guasave... that was a long day, but fun!
We organized and put on our annual New Year’s Eve couples’ dinner for the village…


This was neat in that it gave our friends a chance to really get to sit down and talk to some of the people from our village. The younger people on the team (myself included) had the chance to serve at the party. It was a little bit stressful, as all things of the like are want to be, but all in all I believe that it served as a blessing to the people, believer and unbeliever alike, of Boca del Rio.

We went to a migrant worker camp which ended up being a real blessing to us and to the people…

I appears that we (well, God through us) might have planted our first church… it was pretty amazing the way the gospel was received there. Please keep us in your prayers!

At the end of the week, on Friday January 1, 2010 to be precise, our friends left and along with them my Dad and… I! And that, dear readers, is where I will leave off!

Home again, home again!

The sun is shining, the temperature is beautimous, and I feel extremely blessed!

Last week was my last there at the school in Los Mochis. We didn't have too many full days of classes since two of the days were Christmas parties for the kids. Normally one party would have been enough, but in addition to the gift exchange and party that is tradition at the school, a church in Los Mochis offered to sponsor a Christmas party complete with pinata and games. The kids had a real blast and I wasn't exactly bored myself!

Apart from the parties, school went very well. Most of my kids finished all of their books and the ones that didn't were only missing a little bit. I can't help but think that I was bit of a softy that last week... I just couldn't get over the fact that I was going to be leaving!

On Wednesday we had a big pizza party for all of the kids at the house and then afterwards we went driving around town to let the kids get a look at the Christmas lights. In Mexico lights aren't as big a thing as in the States, but there was a really neat miniature town of Bethlehem that one of the colleges had set up for the city. They went the whole 9 yards and even used live animals. The kids loved it!

On Thursday after school all of the youth from the house went out to the Klaudts' ranch. Since it was going to be the last youth meeting of the year, the youth planned a big "end-of-the-year" hangout. It was really neat. We got to play games, eat "Esquite" (mexican corn off the cob served in a cup with lime, mayo, cheese and chile powder) and then we got to have an awesome study.
The message was divided into three parts -- each of which was giving by a different member of the youth group. The first message was on salvation -- what it means, how it works, and how to know you are saved. The second part was on not being conformed to this world, but rather transformed. Then the third part was on doing hard things for the sake of the gospel. It was basically a plea to the youth to just get up and DO SOMETHING! It doesn't matter how big or how small. Just get up and start living for God.
It ended up being a very powerful message. I think that it's so interesting how you can hear a truth so often that you almost become desensitized to its power. It's good to get a little bit of a waking up and to realize, "hey, maybe this applies to me. Maybe, just maybe, God is trying to show me something through this!"
It was an extra bonus, having the youth night on Thursday, in that I was able to say goodbye to everyone before I had to leave the next day. The nice thing to remember is that I will probably be able to see most of those people again. I mean, it's not like I live on the other side of the world!

Friday I left the school for the last time... at least for the present time. I am now, finally, home to stay. It is a strange feeling, waking up every morning and not hearing the banging of pots and pans in the school kitchen. I am starting to miss walking out into the hallway and seeing Kelly in the kitchen... going up the stairs in the moring to help Desirèe do the girls' hair... Michelle making pancakes... Petra scolding little boys ;)... *sighs. It's been wonderful to be home, but I can't avoid the occasional sigh when I think that I'm not going back on Monday. Still, I know that God has His timing and I truly believe that all things will come together and work for good. It's nice to be able to believe that!

These next few weeks won't be much less busy than what I have been used to at the school. Some friends of ours are coming Wednesday to stay through Christmas. The same day that they are arriving, we also have a team of people coming from Orange County, CA to do a construction project over at our church. Once they leave we have another team of people from all over the US coming to help us finish construction on our house. It's been amazing seeing God put all things together in His timing and His way. Everything we have needed to make this team happen has been provided! I feel so small and so weak. I know that I should trust God and I know that His faithfulness is tried and true... yet I still struggle trusting in Him. Yet! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! I can and will learn to trust Him!

Alright, I need to get going now. Hopefully, now that I have time, you will be seeing a little bit more of me... one can hope! Until such a time as I am able to return I must say, "Au revoir!" or *waves her hand* that's how you do it in sign language ;^)
Blessings! If I don't see you around here before then have a wonderful Christmas.

Note: if anyone is looking for a good, family friendly, Christian Christmas movie with a good message, try "Christmas Shoes" and its sequel "Christmas Blessing". The first is the best movie I have seen in ages! Watch it!!!!

Feliz Cumpleaños a Sara!

****Hack Alert!!!****

In honor of her 17th birthday,

and in light of the fact that she's miles from home,

and we won't see her until Friday,

Dad and Mom have hacked this site

to wish Miss Sarah Jean...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

Caleb, Jessee, Seth, Andrew and Evie send hugs and kisses!!!

We're looking forward to celebrating with you next weekend!

I'm thinking about trying this recipe out Friday night. Whadaya think???

Sarah, Dad and I are so proud of you! I wish we could be there to celebrate with you on your "real" birthday, but know that we're with you in spirit. Praying a blessed "last week" for you and your students and we'll see you on Friday!!!
's Mom and Dad

Week eleven

Buenos dias! How are you all doing this fine day (or night or afternoon, depending on when you read this)? I am wonderfully completely and totally blessed to be me and to abide under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty! This past week has been beyond blessed and I am so thankful, I don't know where to begin... so let's just start at the beginning ;) !

Monday, like most Mondays, was school in the morning and then kids in the afternoon. I was quite happy since two of my students finished one of the books that they needed to finish before the end of the school year. All in all it was a fairly non-stressful day and a truly great first day of the week!

Tuesday and Wednesday was about the same with good school days in which I accomplished most, if not all, of what I had planned for the kids. We finished Charlie and the Chocolate factory -- I had been reading it to the kids since I started in September -- and then started a new book. I don't think that I will have a chance to finish this book before the end of the year, but I really enjoy "story hour" and don't want to give it up just because of that.

Tuesday afternoon we took all the kids to the nearby mountain. This second time that I went I actually really enjoyed myself... well, except for the fact that on the way home I took a nice fall and scraped my knee up. I didn't think much of it, just cleaned it up and put gauze on it. The next day, however, it had got a little bit of infection. I cleaned it up again, put a little bit of antibiotic cream on it and covered it... but the infection caused it to take a little bit longer to heal. Even now, Sunday, I still wince a little when I bend it too much... but the infection is all gone and it's finally starting to scab over. Praise God! I had never had something that serious happen with such a thing as a scrape... it definitely has taught me to be a little more careful when I get cuts. I tend to clean other people up just fine, but when it's myself I guess I don't do quite as good of a job.

Thursday was youth group. I had a great time sitting (that was Petra's condition. She said I could go as long as I wasn't walking too much) and talking to some people I hadn't seen in forever and I especially enjoyed the study. I didn't get a whole lot done since I was translating for two of the other americanos ;), but I felt like what I was doing was important enough for me not to worry about how much I was getting done.

Friday was the especially awesome day. The morning was about average. Everything got done and with a minimal amount of yucky attitudes. The guys continued working on the house, but other than the occasional drill that would come through the wall, it didn't really distract my class... to much ;) !

When we got home from school I was sent to bed to lay down (because of my knee) and I had a nice rest. I kind of wanted to be up and around, but I suppose that being confined to bed had it's benefits; I got to read a book! In the evening I was permitted to get up and then David told us that he was going to take me to Home Depot (I had some stuff that I needed to get there) and then all of us out to ice cream! Yum! Anyway, we all got ready and beautified (I mean, if you rarely get out of the house you want to look nice when you do :D) and then piled into the car.

David "supposedly" needed to get something at Ramon's (one of the brothers) house before taking us to Home Depot. We drove up to the house and Petra asked David if it would be alright if we got out to say hi to Sarai (Ramon's daughter). He said that was fine, just to be quick about it. So, we all got out and walked up to the house. When we got closer I saw through the open door that Andrea, another friend of mine, was there and that there were balloons all over the couch. I didn't have much time to think about that or the cake on the table before I realized that everyone was singing happy birthday... only... to whom?? When I noticed that they were all looking at me... well, I kind of figured it out! I was SO surprised! I have never had a surprise party and I think that it was better than any planned party could have been. From the beautiful cake that the girls made (which, btw, tasted as good as it looked) to the lovely cards and the late night games it was a wonderful night. We didn't go too nuts and only stayed up until about 2:00 a.m. !

Saturday morning all woke up bright and... well... late! After we had woken up and eaten breakfast we went over to the church to clean (we were helping out some friends) and then out to the Klaudts' ranch. Out there we had a fun picnic in the beautiful 80* weather -- am I making any of you "Northern folk" jealous? -- and then a big group of us went out into one of the nearby fields to film a scene in a movie that they are making.

That's something else that has developed recently. I have been given a main part in a short film that one of my friends is making. I am an evil judge who condemns God to death... but then afterwards I repent and have a change of heart. I get to dress up all in black with a blue business jacket; really cool! They are going to be filming my last few scenes tomorrow. Pray that it goes well. The real object in this film is to glorify God, so we really want to do it to the best of our ability!

Today was church where I heard an awesome message out of Isaiah 9. It was really awesome and I really feel like I came away with something new. I had the blessing of being able to translate for some of the team. I really enjoy being able to do that, and it doesn't happen very often. One benefit is that it really makes you concentrate on what the pastor is saying -- rather than letting it go in one ear and out the other.

After church we went to the Mercado (market) and I was able to do a little bit of Christmas shopping. I didn't have much to get at all (most of my presents are already done) but I had a nice time wandering around and looking at stuff. I had fun looking like a tourist and speaking English! I suppose I shouldn't, but I really like watching the looks on people's faces when they say something silly in broken English and I respond to them in Spanish... priceless!

So, now I am seated at the computer, yawning, and am ready to head downstairs to get something to eat. As I face this final week at the school, I want to finish this race well. Please keep me in your prayers! I appreciate it more than you know!

Let me just end with the passage that the pastor spoke on today at church. I wasn't going to put it all here, but when it came down to it, I couldn't choose any one verse from the others!

Isaiah 9:2-7

²The people who walk in darkness

Will see a great light;

Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
³You shall multiply the nation,
You shall increase their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
⁴For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
⁵For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

⁶For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,

On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

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."