No flu here

What a week! As you probably know, the nation of Mexico is in the midst of a swine flu outbreak. I am so thankful that this disease has not been found in our area. We see the photos of people in Mexico City wearing masks and avoiding crowds. We live in such a different place! Although, Jaynie was all for participating in the nation-wide school closures until May 6th, I told her that it did not apply to our school. Today, I went into Creel to run some errands with Jaynie. Now mind you, Creel only has about 7,000 inhabitants – it is a small town surrounded by hills, valleys, forests, and mountains. Here is a view of Creel from the cliffs at our base (this is basically the view from my kitchen window). It shows the southeastern side of town.

So, on our trip to Creel, we went to the one and only bank in town, the post office, and 2 grocery stores. We stood in line at the bank (very normal) and no one wore a mask or avoided greeting each other. Then, we went to the post office; the manager of the office (it is a one-man office) was wearing a mask. He is always super-precautious. That was the only one we saw during our trip to Creel. At the grocery stores, there were many people, but no signs of illnesses or panic.

I just wanted to let you know that we are well. Please join us in praying for all of those who have been affected by the swine flu in Mexico and in other parts of the world.

Middle of the Night Musings

Well, I cannot really say that I am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but I did finally log onto to the internet and can post an update. It is crazy that I have to get up in the middle of the night to do so, but sleep is optional. We are all doing okay - fighting a cold or the flu or something. The city of Mexico is closing all schools on Friday because of a flu outbreak, but I don't think that affects us in northern Mexico. This week Jose Luis has been working with the translation committee in Samachique. They have been translating the panoramic Bible book. He should return home on Friday afternoon, then will go back to Samachique next week for more translation work. Next week, the committee plans to continue their translation of the book of Acts from the New Testament. Jaynie and I are plugging away at homeschool. Jaynie occasionally throws some really yucky attitudes and we are discussing if homeschool is really the best for her. I know that it is, but I cannot see that she is so convinced of this! Also, this week I translated for another missionary who taught a basic class of how to help women in pregnancy and child-birth. It was very interesting and informative! Thank you, Susie and Timothy! I will leave you with another photo of our time in the States. Hopefully, next week I can post some photos of my garden (Ardis has inspired me!). Until then, may God bless you as only He can with His grace and peace.

The sight of ice-damaged trees resonates within me - there is a lesson here for us. What do you think?

We're back!

Whew! We are finally back home for a bit and I have pretty much unpacked everything - just one more box to go. Our time in the USA was filled with so many blessings and we met some really neat people. I am posting some photos of our time in New Mexico, Arizona (even though we only spent a couple of hours there), Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas. The last photo shows Jaynie & I with our "locks of love" braids.

I tried to update my blog on Monday; however, the internet at our base has been very slow this week and I have not been able to do much. It is good to be home, but it does take some time to return to living in another country (I don't know if it would be considered third world or second world?).

How great it is to know that Sunday is on the way! Today, Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, always makes me realize how special Christ's sacrifice and resurrection is - because if the story stopped on Saturday, there would be no hope, no eternal life, no purpose for living, nothing. The good news is that Jesus Christ conquered death and the grave and rose again to a victorious life forever!

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This first picture is of Jose Luis at his first attempt at target practice. Our friends in Cloudcroft took him out for a very interesting afternoon of guns, guns, and more guns (all of them legal). Jaynie even tried her hand at shooting and did pretty good for a 9-year-old girl. Thanks to Scott, Lynn, and everyone!

Window Rock, AZ

Thanks to Kevin and Carrie, we learned more about the Navajo people, their culture, and beliefs. We ate Navajo tacos and played Jenga and had a great time in Gallup, New Mexico. We were blessed to meet many people and got to know Kevin and Carrie better - they were such good hosts!

Claremore, OK

This was Jaynie's first time to successfully fly a kite - Pastor Ray took time from his busy schedule to take us to the lake to spend a couple of hours playing with the kite and looking for arrowheads.

Here comes the sun!

A beautiful sunrise near Harrison, Arkansas - What a relaxing and enjoyable time we had in Arkansas catching up on dear friends and seeing new vistas.

Locks of Love

Jaynie and I cut our hair off and sent our braids to the organization "Locks of Love" who make wigs for children with cancer. Jose Luis was a bit surprised to see us without our long hair, but we were all blessed to be able to donate our hair for others to use. If you would like more information, please check out the website: locksoflove.org