14 Years!

On September 25th, Jose Luis and I celebrated our anniversary. It is amazing how fast the years go by. We were on the way back from a week-long course at the YWAM base in Mazatlan, Mexico. We spent the day in a train from Los Mochis to Creel - sleeping most of the morning and watching the scenery change as we left the tropics behind and returned to the cool, dry air of the mountains.

I praise God for my husband! It is not always easy being married, but it is always a blessing. I've learned so much over the years and I pray that the Lord will grant us many years to come.

August?

This summer it has been difficult for me to keep up with the blog - how's that for stating the obvious? August came and went and I did not post a thing! So I'll list some of the highlights.
Jose Luis worked with the translation committee the first week of Aug. They continue to work in the New Testament. The next week we received a short-term mission team from Baja California - what a blessing to see that the Lord is raising up mission teams in Mexican churches. This group worked hard in the town of San Rafael. Of course, I was able to serve them by cooking meals.
On the homefront, Jaynie worked really hard with 5th grade homeschool and we finished on Aug. 17, the day before her birthday. Then she began 6th grade on Aug. 19 with the California Achievement Test. It seems impossible that Jaynie is now 11 years old. She stands 5 feet 3 inches tall and does not look her age. But she is beautiful. Jaynie has really developed a flair for drawing, coloring, and writing. She loves to read and to research subjects.
The 4th week of Aug. we spent a couple of days in El Paso - mailing school papers back to Christian Liberty Academy, getting everything in order so that we could renew Jaynie's US passport, and doing a little shopping. It was our first time out to the US since Memorial Day weekend. It provided us with a much needed break and some major family time. For most of July and the first half of Aug. Jose Luis went one direction and I went another. It is very difficult to keep a marriage healthy when you don't spend time together!
Reading through my list it doesn't seem too busy, but it sure felt crazy in the midst of it. I did not mention that I began homeschool classes with Carolina (now a Sr. in HS), Michael(Freshman in HS), and Yoshiah (1st grade) Kaemingk. It is such a privilege for me to participate in their education. I never imagined that God would use me to teach children - may He fill them with His wisdom each day!
As soon as I can locate photos from Jaynie's birthday, I will post them here.

King's Kids

Jaynie attended her first ever summer camp this month. It was an interesting experience (have I said that already in another post?), but well worth the time and money we invested for her to be able to go. She worked really hard this past year in school, and Jose Luis and I wanted for her to have a different experience for the summer.

The camp was sponsored, organized, and directed by King's Kids, a ministry of the Youth With A Mission base in Guadalajara, Mexico (http://www.ywamguadalajara.org/in/es_hr.html). Each day was packed with activities - opportunities to learn, to serve, to fellowship, and to play. Jaynie had to get up around 6:30 am and breakfast started the day's activities at 7 am. Bed time and lights out were at 10 pm. Jaynie's favorite part of the day came at 9 am with the start of the classes. Although the classes were all in Spanish, Jaynie took great notes and even today can still explain to me about the messages that most touched her! She took great care to illustrate her notes as well.

In the afternoons, the camp divided into 3 smaller groups - drama, dance, and choir. Jaynie was placed in drama, and she mostly enjoyed it. She participated in one skit. After 8 days of intense classes and practice, the camp took their program on the road. They visited a local orphanage, a nursing home, and the main plaza of a neighboring town. Jaynie performed with her group the skit of the parable of the sower at the orphanage.She also went with the camp to the nursing home and enjoyed visiting with the residents there.I am thankful to God for providing in an unexpected way so that Jaynie and I were able to go to Guadalajara for almost 2 weeks! WOW, I never would have imagined that we would have been able to do this now. Thank you, Lord!

Graduation

For students in Mexico, summer brings with it graduation ceremonies and celebrations here in the mountains. I realize this is not novel for many. However, in Mexico, there are many more opportunities for graduation ceremonies: from kindergarten, 6th grade, secondary school, and then preparatory school. This summer we attended 3 different graduation ceremonies. First, Yoshiah Kaemingk graduated from kindergarten. He participated in a song performed by his class and after the ceremony we enjoyed ice cream in the plaza in Creel.
On the same day that Yoshiah graduated, the children in San Luis Majimachi graduated from 6th grade. Jose Luis attended this ceremony and took many photos (this has become a tradition and many people in the community ask him to take photos of their children).

Finally, we attended the graduation of the granddaughter of the pastors in San Rafael from secondary school. This was a long ceremony with 70 students graduating. Mixed in with the receipt of diplomas were songs and dance numbers.Speaking of dance numbers, in both San Rafael and San Luis Majimachi, students performed a dance called "the old men" - so crazy and not really a dance as much as it is a drama or skit. But all in attendance absolutely love this act. After each graduation, students are sometimes given rings to commemorate the milestone - just imagine, 4 rings before you turn 20!

Where did June go?

I'm not sure what happened to my blogging this summer, but it is obvious that is has been nonexistent. We managed to stay very, very busy during June with the Discipleship Training School and Bible translation, not to mention home school with Jaynie.

The DTS (the photo is of our students with a couple of their children) graduated on June 26 and by the next day the base was so very quiet. The students returned to their homes, but they left us plenty of work cleaning up after them to get the base into shape to receive short-term teams this summer. Thankfully, we had help cleaning up - Manuel and Adelaida came from San Luis Majimachi to lend us a hand. However, our first group did not arrive as planned and we later found out that they decided to stay in another town in the mountains. But, I was so thankful to have the base mostly ready to receive groups anyway.

As July began, we were actively seeking God and His will for our daughter. Although at the time I was very concerned with her solitude and loneliness - I have since come to realize that I was a lot like she is when I was her age. It is hard to believe that she is just 10 going on 11 when she looks older and acts (sometimes) a bit more mature. Now, I know if you were to look in her room, you would know for sure that she is just 10! What a mess - I am so sorry that I put my mother through such a challenge with my cleaning or lack of cleaning in my room growing up! I have to be more diligent in teaching her housekeeping skills.

I will continue with our summer recap soon. In the meantime, if you have any comments or suggestions or questions, please let me know. Take care and may the Lord bless you according to His perfect will for you this day.

Tarahumaras and birthdays

When I was little, birthdays were a big deal in my family. I remember my parents would host parties for my sister and I in different places in Oklahoma City, like the zoo and various parks or pools. Then, when we were older, our parents would let us pick a restaurant to go to for our birthday dinner. It was always a very special day. Now, lest you think this is a BIG hint for a party or presents for my upcoming birthday, let me get to the point. In the Tarahumara culture, birthdays are non-existent. Many Tarahumaras do not know when they were born, not the year, the month, or the day. And birthday celebrations are just not done - it is not seen as a big deal - unless you were born on one of the big saint's days in the Catholic calendar. If you are a Juan, then you would have a big bang of a time on June 24th; not because of you in particular, but because this is the day when the rains usually come and the monsoon season begins. In many communities, they make tesguino and get drunk hoping to encourage the rains to begin. There are other important days, that are celebrated in a like manner.

I say all of that to share with you a photo from the birthday party for Isaac, Jaime & Lupe's youngest son, who turned 1 year old on April 22 (sorry that this post is so very late!). We had a great celebration with good food, sodas, and cake. I pray that this helped Jaime & Lupe recognize the precious gift God gave them in Isaac and that all of us will thank God each day for our children.

Challenging Week

Wooo! I am so glad that it is Friday! It seems like this week was so very long, mainly because it was filled with so many challenges. I had become accustomed to our routine - Bible study in Los Manzanos, church in San Luis Majimachi or Pitorreal, Bible translation once or twice a month, and back-translation of the God's Story script when I have the chance. Of course, we worked home school around these things. But for the past several months (since Jan.), helping with the DTS has changed our routine quite a bit. I know that this is a good thing, but I am not good friends with change. And now, on Sunday, I will go a bit more away from my comfort zone - Jose Luis and I have been asked to participate in a wedding in Creel. We will be giving the couple a new Bible and encouraging them to establish their new life in God's Word. Nothing like getting up in front of a crowd - I would much rather sit on the back row and pray for the couple.


In other news, Lulu's babies continue to grow bigger every day. They started to open their eyes yesterday. I don't know who we will give the 6 babies to once they are old enough to leave their mother, BUT I am determined to give them away. Jaynie keeps trying to convince me to keep one. I am such a tough cookie, that I will not buckle under to her pressure. Here are a couple of photos we snapped today: the gray kitten is Jaynie's favorite, and I just love the second kitten's preferred sleep position!