This is My Life - Part 1

The other day, my friend and I were talking about her upcoming trip home to Canada, and I asked her if she ever felt like she lives in two different worlds like I feel when I am at home (She's been down here for about 3 years). She told me that it makes sense that I would feel that way, as most of my family and friends will never get to come and visit me in this world. So, I got to thinking about how I can share more of my daily life with everyone back at home. I have decided to take a lot more pictures and try to explain as best as I can what my life is like down here.

So, today's segment of "This if My Life" is about our new apartment. Here are the pictures:

This is what you see when you enter the "front door". Yes, we have 2 doors. Our apartment is set up just like the ones on the 1st & 2nd floor - we're on the 3rd floor - but, they put a walkway through ours so that we have basically 2 apartments. The thinking of this is that if they ever need to have more apartments, they can always convert this one back to a 2 room apartment. You are looking at the kitchen/living room.

Another view of our kitchen/living room

This is the home school room - it is located through the doorway from the kitchen/living room. I am so estatic to have a place for all of our school stuff. I feel very spoiled to be able to have such a luxury. Our "back door" is located in this room, which faces the base.

This is the kids' bedroom, which is next to the homeschool room.

This is our room, which is next to the kitchen/living room.

We have 2 bathrooms - one next to the kid's bedroom and one next to ours.

The kids' bedroom is a popular place to hang out. Here are a few of their friends watching a movie this afternoon.

We are now accustomed to things here that I sometimes forget how different it is from my life back in Minnesota. The one thing that has been and continues to be a struggle for me is dishes. I don't mind that I don't have a dishwasher, but I find it to be such a tedious chore that I often have to think about the verse that says, "do all things as if working for the Lord". Let me explain - first, we do not have hot water in our kitchen faucet, which makes it difficult to get the dishes clean. So, I boil the water on the stove to clean the dishes. I also have a tub of bleach water that I put the clean dishes into in order to kill any parasites or amoebas (which I heard is debatable if bleach really kills amoebas or parasites, but I still do it). So, after a good soak, I move the dishes to a rack. On quite a few days, we run out of water, so dishes can pile up quickly. It just seems like a lot of work to me, but in reality, it really isn't. Most of our Mexican friends have to clean their dishes outside in a big cistern of water. So, I am thankful for indoor plumbing and a kitchen sink to clean my dishes in.

Next time on This is My Life - Life outside and around the base. :)

On Saturday, our family went into the centro of Tlaxiaco for Ministry Day. We happened to walk by a MTS student, Glenn, who was talking to a couple. We were introduced, and it turns out this couple now lives in Nundaco (the village that we went to last year), so Dan was able to ask the couple (E. and A.) if they knew some of Dan's friends. They did, and they were amazed that Dan knew the people and also that we had been to Nundaco. The couple invited us all to come and visit - they want us to come for their Day of the Dead celebration (which we will not be going to), but we told them that we'd come and visit in a few weeks. E. and A. just moved to Nundaco a few months ago (they had been in the states for 4 years). E. told Glenn that he likes to read his bible and would love to study the bible with Glenn. So, we are rejoicing over the timing of it all. We are praying that this couple will come to know the Lord in such a way that their love of Christ would radically change the lives of those in Nundaco. How awesome would it be if a church was planted in Nundaco from this "chance" meeting? We know nothing is by chance, that God put us in the right place at the right time, and we are excited for what God has planned.

As we were talking to E. and A., we witnessed a funeral procession (my first since being down here), and it really made an impact on me. The procession started with a Mariachi band playing a somewhat sorrowful song, then came the casket & the pallbearers, and then a huge group of people carrying flowers. They were all weeping as they followed, and it tore at my heart. This person most likely did not know the Lord. Time is short - people are dying without ever hearing about the love of Christ. We are here to preach the Truth to our friends here - pray with me that I may be bold and have the right words to say when I meet new people and when I am with my friends.

Also, a friend sent me this link - this is a really cool video, check it out:

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=6a54d5371f00e3fdd70d

The Princess Birthday Party

Yesterday, we had a joint birthday party for Lizzy and her 2 friends, Lauryn & Jordan (all who turned 4 in October). It was a blast for everyone (including moms and dads). All the girls came dressed up in their pretty princess dresses, and the boys showed up as knights. We had a treasure hunt, make a crown craft, pizza, cake & of course, the princess pinata!

The 3 of us moms also got excited about the party - we went to the local used clothes store, and we found some great dresses (and the cost couldn't be beat - 4 items for 10 pesos - about a quarter each).

The girls were excited that their moms were also princesses. I completely surprised Lizzy with my outfit! She had no idea that I had bought the dress until we were leaving to go to the party. The bible study that the moms at the base are doing talked this week about how we are all princesses in God's kingdom - we thought it was very fitting that particular study occurred this week. Now, if we could just figure out how to wear these dresses in our everyday lives...

This is why I am here!

We have many praises this week - I just am in awe of how God has been moving in Tlaxiaco.

This past week, Dan's friend, A. turned his life over to the Lord. A. has had so many people sowing into his life in the past year - a Missionary Training School (MTS) student last year, Justin, befriended him and spent a lot of time with him, our Church Planting Team (CPT) has also really spoke into his life, and now another MTS student, Nick, made friends with him and led him to the Lord a few nights ago. A. was baptized last night! It is so awesome!




Another amazing thing happened yesterday. My friend, S., who was my language tutor last year, also was baptized. She was saved last March, and then has had a rough few months. She came over yesterday and I told her about A.'s baptism, and told her that she should also get baptized (sort of in a joking way because I didn't want her feeling pressured). She said she was interested in it, and we talked a lot about it, and she decided she wanted to do it yesterday, too. I am so absolutely thrilled that God allowed me to speak into S.'s life! She told me on the way to the baptism that she had prayed the night before that God would allow her a new beginning, that she needed His help and guidance. Seve felt that this was an answer to her prayer. Afterwards, she just kept saying how happy she was. Glory to God! I can not praise Him enough for what He has done for S. and for the plans He has for her. She is such a precious friend to me, and I just am so excited for her. We are going to start studying the bible together each Sunday. S.'s mom isn't very happy that S. is a Christian - so please pray that S. will hold on to Jesus with all of her strength, and that as God molds her and guides her, her mom will see the difference in her life.




As you can see from the pictures, most of the "gringos" at the base joined us for the baptism. It was the first baptism here since the beginning of school and no one wanted to miss out!

Just a few days before all of this, I had been listening to some of the students talking about what God is doing in their life, all of the contacts their making, and the spiritual conversations that they are getting into with some of the locals here. I was thinking that I can't do as much as them because I am a full-time wife, mom, and homeschool teacher, and I have to admit, I felt somehow less important than them. I felt that I didn't have much to contribute to the people of Tlaxiaco (especially because I often feel lacking in the necessary Spanish skills).

And then, God showed me His incredible mercy and love! He used me to encourage S. about God's faithfulness and His love for her. I praise God that He can use broken vessels such as myself. He is so good and so amazing!!

Well! I have decided to join the wave of bloggers out there with hopes that this will keep my family, friends, and supporters better informed and involved in our lives. I will try to keep this site updated as best as I can - I really don't want to be one of those people who begin a blog, but then never update it. :)

Today, Lizzy turned 4 years old. I can't believe my baby is 4! Dan and I were remembering when Lizzy was a baby and we were enduring sleepless nights, we used to say, "when Lizzy is 4, Zach is 6, and Sam is 8, it will be so much easier". Well... that is true in the sense that we usually have nights of uninterrupted sleep and less crying (for the most part), but now the kids are harder in the sense of knowing exactly how to handle their stronger personalities and sinful choices. As they grow more and more independent, it's a new world for me. I no longer have a child at my feet or in my arms while I am doing dishes, making dinner, going to the bathroom, etc. There's a little part of me that misses being the center of all they do, but it is also really cool to see them branch out and grow into who God is developing them to be. It's really neat to see how self-confident Sam is at his age. He doesn't have any fears of talking to adults or trying out his Spanish on our neighbors. I was so completely different than that as I child! You couldn't pay me to talk to my friends' parents. It is so fun thinking about who these children are going to be when they grow up.


Here are some pictures from Lizzy's birthday: