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

On the road again!

We are 2 weeks into our 5 week journey in the USA and we have been so blessed in so many ways! So far we have visited friends, both old and new, in: El Paso, Texas; Las Cruces, New Mexico; Cloudcroft, New Mexico; Gallup, New Mexico; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Claremore, Oklahoma. Along the way we have met many special people - like the pastor from Belen, New Mexico, who performed emergency surgery on our truck on I-25. We also have been able to spend more time with a couple of people we met in Creel during short-term missions from their churches or ministries. We have been awed by how great the body of Christ is and by how our sovereign Lord has our lives in His hands. And, although we miss our friends and family in the mountains of Mexico, we look forward to what God has planned for the coming days. :)